


Notice Me

by AlexandriaCornbread



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Multi, No Angst as far as I've written, Romance, but with a twist, this is kinda just me writing about my own high school experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24667606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexandriaCornbread/pseuds/AlexandriaCornbread
Summary: “First name basis with the teach, huh? This class will be a cakewalk for you.”“Don’t change the subject,” Adora whispered back. “We’ve been going to school together for like five years now, and you don’t even remember me.”Catra took a longer look at the girl. Still pretty, but further than that… “ I’m not really into the social scene.”“You knew Seahawk.”“Everybody knows Seahawk!” Catra defended quietly. “He set his own car on fire!”
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 130
Kudos: 757





	1. Notice Me

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing. I’ll be honest, I haven’t thought too far ahead, so other ships may make an appearance. I have a general idea of what I’d like to happen though. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Edit: Does anybody know how to set it to multiple chapters? Like, “1/?” Or something?

The incessant chatterings in the hallways of Brightmoon High were...pervasive, to say the least. Constant, unnecessarily loud and, quite frankly, vapid. The dance coming up, the next basketball game, the gossip. Who’s dating who? Who hooked up? Did you hear about the kid who got suspended for vaping in the teachers lounge? 

_ Okay _ , that one Catra actually found mildly interesting. Like, kid had some guts. Brainless, obviously, but gutsy. Catra almost admired it. 

But it was Catra’s junior year, she’d already endured two years in the festering pit of hormones and gossip, and she was pretty much over it - and _God_ she didn’t want to think about how she was only halfway through. 

Her sanity was intact for two distinct reasons. One, her headphones. Big enough to dissuade anyone from even thinking about talking to her in the hallways. Their “don’t fuck with me” vibe was the perfect shield to thankfully be left alone for the most part. 

Two, was Scorpia and Entrapta. Two of her only friends in the school, and very unlikely ones at that. And yet, their trite and true refusal to adhere to the social norms of high school was something Catra enjoyed about them. Entrapta’s bright purple hair, her stained overalls, and impressive rants about things people couldn’t even begin to understand were all endearing. People thought she was just “too much”. Catra made sure Entrapta knew that being too big for a small town high school was  _ not _ her problem, but rather everyone else’s. 

Scorpia was all “too much” in a different way. Her large frame and short, floppy hair already grabbed attention as it was, and yet instead of shrinking, Scorpia was loud, and affectionate, and so damn  _ kind.  _ Which irked Catra in the beginning, a lot, but if there was one thing Catra admired in people (aside from the guts to go against the grain) it was genuinity. And Scorpia was nothing if not genuine. 

Besides, it was nice to have that kind of support in her life. Even if she wasn’t always the greatest at returning it. 

So Catra walked the hallways, a little bit later than she should be, headphones pulled snug over her ears. She might end up late, sure, but she wasn’t going to be  _ running _ to  _ class _ . 

Right at the bell, Catra found her first period English class, walking in as the teacher gave her an unimpressed look. She was tall, weirdly regal looking in posture and appearance for a high school teacher. She was also slender with dark hair, and, quite frankly, hot. As Catra pulled off her headphones she heard the tail end of a snarky comment. 

“...first day and already putting in minimal effort.” 

She saluted the teacher sarcastically before scanning the room for a seat. Only two were open. The first one was in the back next to a kid named Seahawk. He was singing, so that was an obvious no. The second seat was in the second row on the end, which Catra was happy to take. She hated being in the middle of the row. It made her feel trapped. 

As she took her seat beside a blonde girl who was already scribbling in her notebook, she almost laughed.  _ The teacher hasn’t even said anything yet, what could you possibly be writing?  _ The girl looked up in surprise before shooting her a kind smile and awkward wave. 

“Hey there,” She said, giving a little nod. “First day back and I already miss summer.” She chuckled to herself. 

Catra sat down tentatively, hoping the girl wouldn’t be much of a talker during the period. “Yeah, same here.” She didn’t continue after that, pulling out her own notebook as the teacher began talking about the year ahead of them. 

“Oh teacher!” Seahawk called from the back, shooting his hand into the air. Without waiting for permission, he continued. “When we read Romeo and Juliet in the fourth week per the syllabus, will we be doing a dramatic reenactment? If so, I would love to show the class my stunning rendition of Romeo.” 

“Uh…” The teacher, Ms. Spella, hesitated. “Well, that wasn’t the plan-“

“That would be so fun!” Another student chimed in. 

“Definitely would make reading all that old timey stuff more bearable,” One more added. 

Spella cleared her throat softly, and Catra found her obvious discomfort slightly amusing. She glanced down at the syllabus she had previously been reading. “Right,  _ well _ I will definitely consider taking that approach when we reach it. If that’s what the class would find to be more engaging.” 

A couple of cheers were let out, and Catra heard a small giggle beside her. She glanced at her table mate and raised a questioning eyebrow. 

The girl covered her mouth with her hand as another giggle shook her shoulders. “ _ God _ , if she lets Seahawk actually play Romeo, this class might end up being the most entertaining one in my schedule.” 

Catra quirks her lip up at that. “Honestly though. That guy is…” She couldn’t even find the right word to describe him. He was one of the students Catra had found amusing throughout her high school experience. Talk about being genuine, the guy radiated “I don’t give a fuck what you think” vibes. He always wore a stupid bandanna and had the craziest mustache Catra had ever seen. She steered semi-clear of the man, as he was perhaps a bit too boisterous for her to be around too long. 

“Something,” The girl finished. “Remember in eighth grade when he performed that sea shanty for the school’s talent show?” She was turned more toward Catra now, her hand coming to cup her mouth as if telling a secret, though her voice was far from a whisper. “That was probably one of the best things I’d ever seen. He deserved to win.” 

Catra looked back in shock. Her middle school was a lot smaller than the high school was. She did, in fact, remember that talent show. Seahawk had ended up accidentally lighting his coat on fire during his performance, and Catra to that day had not figured out how he had managed it. The fact that the girl had obviously gone to her middle school was surprising considering Catra had no idea who she was. 

“I think the facility had it out for him after he started that mosh pit at the pep rally, personally,” She continued. “Definite voter fraud.” 

Catra took in the girl for a moment, trying to remember her from around. She had bright blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when she laughed, and straight blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She didn’t have particularly stand out features, especially considering the weird ass hair colors people continued to try to pull off in their grade, but she was incredibly pretty. Strong jaw and cheekbones, really nice skin. She didn’t wear anything out there either, a simple red jacket over a white turtleneck. 

“Do I have something on my face?” She whispered now, as Ms. Spella continued on with the syllabus. 

That took Catra out of her stupor quickly, and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Uh, no. Nope, nothing on your face, I was just… recalling all of Seahawk’s adventures.” She laughed slightly, now actually thinking about all of the shenanigans Seahawk had gotten up to in their years of school together. 

The girl looked at her disbelievingly, continuing to scrutinize Catra even after she had turned back to the syllabus on her desk. She suddenly let out a gasp and smacked Catra lightly on the arm, causing Catra to turn to her quickly in surprise.  _ Jesus.  _

“You don’t remember me!”

“Anything you’d like to share with the class, girls?” The teacher raised an eyebrow at the pair as the students snickered quietly. 

_ Halfwits.  _ Catra quickly shook her head “no”, and she felt a blush rise to her cheeks. 

“Sorry Casta!” The girl replied cheerily. 

“No first names in class, Adora,” The teacher chided and the girl, Adora, actually looked sheepish this time. 

“Sorry.”

Catra waited until  _ Casta _ had turned back to the rest of the class before side eyeing Adora. “First name basis with the teach, huh? This class will be a cakewalk for you.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Adora whispered back. “We’ve been going to school together for like five years now, and you don’t even remember me.” 

Catra took a longer look at the girl.  _ Still pretty, _ but further than that… “ I’m not really into the social scene.”

“You knew Seahawk.”

“Everybody knows Seahawk!” Catra defended quietly. “You just told two instances that would make it very hard to forget him.” 

“So, I’m forgettable?”

Catra whipped her head to fully face her. “Wha- no, I just-“

Adora giggled quietly. “I’m kidding.” She didn’t say anything else for a moment before saying even quieter, “I remember you. We had a few classes together, but you usually sat in the back, and you didn’t really talk much. You hang out with Scorpia and Entrapta, right?”

Catra could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. If they hadn’t interacted at all, how did Adora remember her when Catra didn’t. God, she didn’t realize she was  _ that _ inattentive. She squinted slightly at Adora. 

“Ugh, okay,” Adora talked with her hands a lot, waving them as she chatted, and it was a miracle Ms. Spella hadn’t called them out again. They were sitting in the second row and fully facing each other at that point. “Third period, eighth grade, we had to make those tinfoil-pizza box ovens. We were making s’mores on the basketball courts outside, and you accidentally stepped on mine, Bow, and Glimmer’s s’mores -Glimmer cussed you out?”

Catra grinned at that. “I remember Glimmer and Bow,” She laughed. “God her face was so red.” A pause. “I did apologize though. It was actually an accident.”

“You remember them, but not me?” Adora pouted. 

“Glimmer has bright purple hair and yelled profanities at me. Bow literally only wears crop tops and somehow doesn’t get dress coded,” Catra defended. She thought for a moment. “I feel like I do remember you. You tried to calm her down?”

“Yes, that was me!” Adora replied just as the bell went off. “Gosh, I’m kinda offended at this point. Do you at least know my name now after the teacher said it?”

Catra pretended to think as the pair packed up their things. She placed a hand to her chin before snapping in false remembrance. “Abby, right?” 

Adora huffed, although Catra could see a trace of amusement in her eyes. “You’re an asshole.” 

As they headed toward the door Catra turned to Adora. “Well, do you know  _ my _ name?” 

She could see Adora’s two friends, the ones from the pizza box incident waving and calling to their friend from down the hall. Adora held up a single finger for them to wait before turning back to face the other girl. “Cathy, I believe.” She then turned on her heel, heading the opposite direction Catra’s next class was. 

“Now who’s the asshole?” Catra called after her. 

The response was loud laughter that brought a grin to Catra’s face. It was a nice sound, really. Carefree, and Catra felt a swell of pride at the thought that she was the cause of it. With a chuckle of her own, she headed down to her next class. 

She wouldn’t be forgetting her name anytime soon. 

_ Adora.  _

  
  


——

Adora headed to class with Bow and Glimmer on either side of her, chatting about the basketball game the next night. She thought quietly to herself. She couldn’t decide if she should be slightly embarrassed or offended that Catra hadn’t remembered her, or if she should feel giddy about how well the interaction had gone. Barring the whole part where her crush didn’t even know she existed. 

“Adora?” 

“Hm?” She looked at both of them, switching between the two as they both eyed her suspiciously. “What?” She asked. 

Bow’s expression turned into a giddy one, and Adora braced herself for what she knew was coming. “I normally would ask what would have you so distracted-“

“-but we already know,” Glimmer interrupted with a grin of her own. 

“Was that Catra-“

“-the she-devil-“

“You were just talking to?” Bow was practically bouncing in place at that point as they stood outside of their second period class. “Aka-“

“-the bane of my existence-“

“-Your longtime cruuuuush,” He sang out, then actually dancing. “Oh my god,  _ Adora _ , were you asking her out?”

“Wha- no!” Adora spluttered, her face turning bright red now. 

“You know she wouldn’t have the guts,” Glimmer teased playfully. “I mean, it’s been, what, three years now?”

“Ever since she obliterated our s’mores,” Bow lamented with a deep sigh. 

“She apologized!” Adora defended. “And,” She turned to Glimmer, pointing finger. “ _ I  _ am gutsy. I have guts. I have lots of them, they’re practically spilling out-“

“ _ Gross _ ,” Glimmer laughed out before dragging the pair into the room. “And not true. You’ve been pinning our whole high school experience-“

“-and before-“

“And haven’t said a word to her,” Glimmer finished triumphantly. “You are the epitome of A. Useless. Lesbian.” She poked her with every word, and Adora swatted her hands away halfheartedly. 

“Well, I’ll have you know,” Adora sat down beside them, slightly lowering her voice. “ _ I  _ started the conversation.”

“I’m so proud,” Bow’s eyes practically twinkled. “And what did you talk about?” He asked in excitement. 

“Seahawk.”

“Seahawk?” Glimmer twisted her face up. “Why Seahawk? Oh God, does she have a crush on him-“

“No way,” Bow shook his head dramatically. “He’s way too fun for Catra.”

“Okay first of all,  _ ouch,” _ She gestured dramatically to herself. “I am fun and perfect for Catra. And two, we were just talking about his many adventures throughout middle school. Well, two of them.”

“You talked to your crush about  _ Seahawk _ ?” Glimmer restated, looking at Adora in disbelief. 

“Well,” Adora ducked her head, a blush rising to her cheeks. “That and the fact she had no memory of me whatsoever,” She mumbled. 

“What?” Glimmer almost shouted. “How does she not remember you? She killed our s’mores!!”

“She remembered you guys,” Adora replied, pouting. 

“Ouch,” Bow cringed. 

“That little asshole, I’m gonna-“

“Okay,” Bow held his hands up, ever the peacekeeper. “Catra isn’t the most social. She probably doesn’t know 90% of the school.”

“Except you, Glimmer, and Seahawk,” Adora shotback. 

“Glimmer is a five foot ball of rage with bright purple hair and history of cursing Catra out,” Bow ignored Glimmer’s affronted “ _ Hey! _ ”. “Seahawk is a tall, sea shanty singing, boy who blew up his own car on campus and has the coolest mustache ever-“

“Should we address what appears to be  _ your  _ crush-“

“- And  _ I _ ,” Bow placed a hand to his chest dramatically, lowering his head in a mock bow. “Am a smoke show with the nicest set of abs that I proudly show off.” He finished with flourish, waving his hand to gesture to his abdomen, which for the record was impressive in Adora’s mind. 

“Maybe you should walk around half-naked, Adora,” Glimmer teased, causing Adora to blush violently at the thought. “ _ That’d _ get her attention.” 

“I am not ‘half-naked’!” Bow screeched just as the bell rang. 

The teacher walked in, eyeing the three of them, he  _ definitely  _ heard Bow’s last statement. He shook his head, muttering to himself, before turning to the whole class. Adora’s blush only grew, and she crossed her arms petulantly. She was a ‘smoke show’ herself, though she knew Bow had said it jokingly. 

“Hey,” Glimmer whispered, placing a comforting hand over Adora’s. “She really doesn’t pay attention to much.”

“Buuut,” Bow also whispered, placing his hand on Adora’s shoulder. “We’re gonna make her.”

“What?” Adora asked in confusion. She didn’t like the shit-eating grins both of them were wearing. 

“We’re gonna make you impossible to forget.”

_ Oh God _ , Adora thought in horror.  _ What the hell were they up to?  _

——

“Do you know Adora?” Catra found herself asking Scorpia in the fourth period. They were seated near the back of the art classroom, Scorpia had been focused intently on her art pad while Catra’s remained blank. 

“Hmm,” Scorpia paused her drawing to look at Catra questioningly. “I know her, yeah. She’s really pretty,” She said offhandedly, but Catra found herself nodding along. 

“Yeah,” She agreed with a shrug. She absentmindedly started to doodle on her own sketch pad. “I have first with her. She knew me, but I couldn’t really remember her.”

Scorpia looked up again at that, now fully putting her pencil down. “Well, that’s not that surprising, Wildcat.” Catra rolled her eyes in response to the nickname. “Everyone knows you, you’ve been going to school with most of them for years, and you’re very pretty, plus you always have your headphones on, and they’re kinda eye catching, you know?” Scorpia rambled gesturing to the headphones lying around Catra's neck. “And you don’t really pay much attention to people outside of me and ‘Trapta. No offense,” She tacked on with a shrug. 

Catra sighed at that, scratching her elbow sheepishly. “I just didn’t realize I was so in my own world I didn’t even notice her.”

Scorpia raised a curious eyebrow in response. “Why her?” She asked tentatively. 

“What?” Catra squinted her eyes in confusion.  _ What was she on about? _

“Why do you care that you didn’t notice her?” Scorpia elaborated. “You usually don’t care.” There was no malice in her voice, no accusation, just stated plainly. 

“I-“ Catra paused. She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess I just feel bad about it. She kinda called me out point blank about it.”

“I see,” Scorpia hummed. “Well, if you feel bad about it, maybe you can be extra nice to her the next time you see her. To let her know that you value her as a person.”

Catra scrunched her nose up at that. “As stated before, I don’t even know her. Why would I- I mean, not that I have to know a person to value them as a human being, but I-“ Catra groaned. “I don’t owe her anything.” 

Scorpia laughed loudly, causing a few eyes to turn to them and Catra to frown. “I guess in a way we don’t owe anyone anything. But,” Scorpia then continued her drawing. “You obviously care enough about it to want to do  _ something  _ at least, right? Maybe you guys could be friends? Adora’s really cool, and so are you, so you guys could probably have a lot of fun together.”

Something about the phrase  _ “you guys could probably have a lot of fun together”  _ , brought an unfamiliar feeling in Catra’s chest, and an annoying blush to her cheeks. 

Scorpia casted Catra a look the girl didn’t quite understand. There was  _ something  _ there that Catra didn’t fully understand at that point, and it made her shift uncomfortably in her seat. 

“What?” She spat out, frowning deeply. 

“Nothing,” Scorpia smiled innocently. “You should really start your drawing, though. We only have one more class period until they’re due. And I know how much you hate having to come in during lunch to finish them.”

At the mention of lunch, Catra’s stomach gurgled loudly. “Ugh,” She groaned, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “Thank God, lunch is next. I’m starving.”

“Which is why you definitely don’t want to spend it finishing your drawing,” Scorpia said cheerfully, poking Catra teasingly with her pencil. 

At that, Catra quickly started on her project. 

——

  
  
  



	2. It’s Obvious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An awkward lunch with the gang, an oblivious Catra, and a panicked Adora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, writing dialogue for groups is actually a lot harder than expected! 
> 
> Thank you for your patience and wonderfully kind support. I wrote this pretty late, so hopefully it follows decently.

“Okay, so game plan.” 

Bow caught Adora just on her way into the lunch room. It was Monday, so that meant it was lasagna day. One of Adora’s favorites. 

“What?” She asked, heading toward the lunch line. 

“For operation ‘Get Adora’s Crush to Notice Her and Ask Her on a Date’,” Glimmer explained, popping up on Adora’s other side. “G.A.N.H.A.H.D - No wait. G.A.C.T-“

“Kinda long winded, no?” Adora interrupted. A flush took over her cheeks. _God how embarrassing_. “I don’t need any help, or weird operation or whatever. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing-“

“-Pining from afar?” Glimmer question.

“Don’t be mean,” Bow chidded. “But, I mean…” He trailed off with a shrug. 

Adora gasped indignantly. “How many times do I have to say that _I_ started the initial conversation,” She complained. She folded her arms across her chest in a pout as they moved further up the line. 

“About Seahawk,” Glimmer scrunched her face once more. 

“It was a good segway!” Adora defended. “I wasn’t gonna open with ‘Hey, I’ve been pining after you for three years, and, wow! Look at that you’re finally sitting next to me-‘“

“Are you guys talking about Catra?” 

The trio immediately turned to the source of the sound behind them. A shorter blue haired girl with tan skin was watching them unimpressed. 

“Mermista!” Adora croaked. “No! I don’t know what you-“

“-Oh please,” Mermista waved Adora off lazily. “One, you guys are talking hella loud, and two, everyone knows you’ve had a crush on Catra since middle school. Except for Catra, who, weirdly enough, is even more oblivious than the duo she hangs out with.”

“Don’t be rude!” Another voice chimed in. Perfuma, who had been standing behind Mermista the whole time, gently slapped the shorter girl on the shoulder. “Scorpia is not oblivious-“

“-She hasn’t noticed your crush either,” Mermista drawled out. “What’s it been? Eight months?”

Perfuma’s freckled cheeks flushed bright red. “I don’t- I wasn’t- you were supposed to keep that a secret!” She was about as embarrassed as Adora was at that point. 

_Jesus Christ, did everyone seriously know she had a thing for Catra? There was no way the other girl wouldn't know. Oh, god. What if she knew and thought Adora was a creep or-_

“I’m _trying_ to be helpful,” Mermista defended, holding up her hands in defense. “You two can team up to make dumb and dumber notice the two babes trying to catch their attention.”

“She’s not dumb!” Adora and Perfuma immediately said in tandem, before looking to each other. 

“Anyway,” Bow cut in. “My twelve step plan goes as follows…”

“You’re kidding,” Mermista said, raising an eyebrow. 

The line moved up, and as they all got their food, Bow chattered excitedly. “Step one, talk to her, which you did, so good job!” Adora smiled weakly at that. “Step two, pay her a compliment…”

He continued his explanation until they had made it to the end of the line and started to search for a table. “Step, seven. You ask her to sit with you at lunch-“

“-Or we skip two through six and go right now.”

Adora’s head snapped up from her lunch tray at Glimmer’s suggestion. The shorter girl was pointing a very obvious finger in the direction of a lunch table. There sat Catra, Scorpia, and their other friend Entrapta. Entrapta was chattering excitedly while Scorpia listened with rapt attention. Catra was slouched on the other side of the table, picking at her food and looking a bit zoned out. 

Adora quickly smacked at Glimmer’s hand. “Stop-“

“Hey, Scorpia!” Glimmer called across the cafeteria, immediately bringing attention to the group. 

Adora’s eyes widened in panic as she saw all three table mates look in their direction - along with a number of students in the cafeteria. _No, No-_

“Glimmer!” Scorpia called back, waving excitedly. Adora couldn’t help but find the girl’s friendliness endearing, despite Adora being fairly certain Glimmer and Scorpia didn’t even know each other that well. “Do you guys wanna eat lunch with us?” 

Scorpia’s attention had turned to Adora for some reason. It made the blonde shift nervously and dart her eyes toward Catra, who almost looked upset. 

“Fudge,” Adora muttered. 

“We would all love to!” Bow replied chipperly, already starting toward the table. 

Glimmer and Mermista quickly followed, the latter murmuring something along the lines of how “interesting this ought to be”. Perfuma and Adora quickly glanced at one another before nodding their heads in solidarity and following the group. 

The remaining seat was between Mermista and Catra, which Adora was once again feeling conflicted over. Should she be pissed at her friends or overjoyed for getting to sit next to Catra twice in one day? 

Entrapta has seemingly ignored the entire exchange and was still ranting passionately about...robots? 

“And then the teacher said ‘you have to take your robot home or else you’ll get suspended!” Entrapta finished, waving her hands around heatedly. “I worked on this all summer.”

Adora looked curiously at Catra who had stiffened up in her seat, refusing to look at her. Adora felt her heart sink a bit. _Oh no, she was uncomfortable sitting next to_ _her, she probably knew about Adora’s big fat crush._

“So what was the problem?” Scorpia asked. She patted Entrapta kindly on her shoulder. 

Bow cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, I might have to agree with Mr. Hordak on that one,” Bow held up his hands quickly in defense when Entrapta glared at him heatedly. “It has lasers _and_ a chainsaw!”

“Emily is a gentle giant-“

“Emily?” “A giant?” Adora and Glimmer had spoken up at the same time, looking at Entrapta in disbelief. 

“She’s, like, eight feet tall,” Catra chimed in, still picking at her lasagna. “And,” She dropped her fork, making a circle with her hands. “Like, a hundred pound orb.”

“Two hundred pounds,” Entrapta corrected. 

Glimmer, Bow, and Adora glanced at each other skeptically before Mermista chimed in. 

“Sounds badass to me,” She shrugged. 

“And really creative,” Perfuma added. 

“It’s super fucking badass, ‘Trapta,” Catra agreed, looking toward her friend. Entrapta lit up at the praise, now actually looking at the other table mates. “But… Emily is a little dangerous for school. Why don’t we move her to your garage? We can get one of those lift things-“

“Emily is fully capable of walking on her own, actually,” Entrapta corrected. Adora’s mouth dropped in shock, and she even heard Boe let out a little squeal. 

“Well, Scorpia and I can help you move her after school anyway. Extra support in case,” Catra finished. 

Adora watched the way Catra smiled gently at her friend, her crush’s smile growing even larger when Entrapta beamed back. Her voice was so soft and comforting, nothing Adora had ever heard from her before. 

“We could help.” Adora snapped out of her stare to turn to Glimmer. “Adora’s like super buff,” Glimmer raised a brow at Catra, the other girl only looked back in surprise. Adora’s hands immediately flew to her face in embarrassment, glaring hard at Glimmer. 

‘Shut up’ She mouthed. Glimmer smirked in return. 

“Thanks, but Scorpia’s pretty, uh, buff herself,” Catra replied. 

“She really is,” Perfuma said dreamily, causing the table to turn to her. Adora felt a bit bad at Perfuma’s blushing face once she realized what she had said, but she was also happy to have the attention off of her. 

“Oh, wow, gee,” Scorpia stuttered out, her own face flushing heavily. “Uh, thank you, Perfuma. That’s really nice of you.”

“Thank you- I mean, you’re welcome,” Perfuma seriously didn’t look like she’d get any redder, and Adora was then tempted to embarrass herself completely just to help the poor girl. 

Mermista was practically dying of laughter in her spot next to Entrapta, which was the most emotion Adora had seen from the girl in a long while. 

“Can we get back to Emily?” Entrapta interrupted. 

“Right!” Scorpia said before looking around the table. “The more help the better, I say. Why don’t we all meet in the robotics lab after school to help out?”

“Sounds good.”

“I’m in.” 

“I think you guys have got that one,” Mermista replied. She picked at her nails disinterestedly. “I have… plans.” She looked away nervously at that, but Adora didn’t have time to dissect it because she was distracted by Catra looking at her. 

“Oh,” Adora mumbled. “No definitely. I’ll be there, I love to...be helpful.” She glanced back at Catra who was looking at her curiously now. 

“You don’t have to-“

“I want to,” Adora affirmed, holding Catra’s gaze. 

The other girl’s eyes were...pretty. One hazel, practically golden, and the other a bright blue. And, the eye contact felt weirdly intense, like Catra was trying to figure something out. It made her shift in slight discomfort, not used to so much attention from her long time crush -especially all in one day. 

“Great,” Glimmer clapped her hands, breaking Adora from the stare off. She could hear Catra clear her throat quietly. “Sounds like a plan.”

“So, what’s everybody's next class?” Perfuma asked, and the group bursted into conversation once more. 

“Algebra two.”

Adora whipped her head toward Catra for what felt like the hundredth time. “No way,” She laughed. “Me too!”

“You guys should walk together,” Bow grinned. 

“Get to know each other better,” Glimmer added. She wore a matching shit-eating grin. 

“Uh,” Catra looked around in confusion. Adora felt bad for the girl, she was subjecting her to her nosy friends’ stupidity. “I’m good with that,” She said. She raised a brow at Adora. 

_Okay_ , _hot_ , Adora thought before nodding her head in affirmation. 

“I actually have algebra next as well,” Scorpia chimed in. “But I could walk by myself and let you guys-“

“Why would you do that?” Catra stared at her friend suspiciously, and Adora felt the need to do the same. 

“You can definitely walk with us,” Adora confirmed. _What was Scorpia - oh God! She knew too._ Adora was about ready to pass away with embarrassment when the bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch, and saving Adora from whatever the hell was going on. 

The table quickly dispersed, the group headed toward the trash cans and then the exit, all saying their goodbyes. It left Adora with Catra and Scorpia who were both waiting patiently for her. 

“Let’s get going!” Scorpia was cheerily, wrapping her arms around both of their shoulders and directing them toward their class. 

Adora took a deep breath. Okay. All she had to do was think of something interesting to say. 

“So, do you lift, Scorpia?” 

Wait. 

——

Catra listened to the pair talk animatedly about weight lifting after having wiggled out from Scorpia’s arm. Meatheads, she thought light heartedly, almost chuckling at their discussion of… a bench press or something. 

She didn’t have a lot to add to the whole thing. Her mind drifted to their lunch period as she followed them absentmindedly. 

It was weird. 

Glimmer and Scorpia were not friends. In fact, despite Scorpia practically being a walking teddy bear, Glimmer was known for being almost prickly. At least in Catra’s mind. She supposed they were similar in that sense. 

She wondered what prompted it. Scorpia was always friendly, but it was starting to feel like everybody was in on something that Catra wasn’t included in. The way that group randomly approached them. The way people were looking at each other. How flushed Perfuma had got-

_Aha!_ Catra thought triumphantly. That was it. The group must have been playing wingman, wingwomen and man or whatever, for Perfuma. Catra wasn’t all that versed in crushes and things of that sort, but anyone with eyes could see that Perfuma had a bit of a crush on Scorpia, and honestly, it was probably returned. 

_You’d have to be totally oblivious to miss a crush that obvious._

“Right, Wildcat?”

Catra was pulled from her thoughts as Scorpia nudged her playfully. 

“What?” She asked stupidly, not even pretending she had been listening. 

“I was just telling Adora that even though you don’t really lift, you’re pretty strong yourself,” Scorpia filled in, winking. 

Catra looked over to Adora who was looking a little red. “Uh, I guess?” Catra felt Scorpia nudge her again, bringing her back to the previous conversation they’d had before lunch. _Right_. “Probably not as strong as you though, Abby,” Catra smirked at Adora’s affronted look. “I mean, your friends were hyping you up quite a bit.”

Adora groaned loudly. She face-palmed dramatically, and Catra laughed lightly at her the spectacle. It was endearing. “They’re so embarrassing!” Adora complained as they approached the door to their class. “It’s like they live to make me look stupid.”

Catra looked Adora up and down. She couldn’t quite tell anything from the girl’s outfit, her loose red jacket, and “mom jeans” but she supposed Adora did look pretty fit. Broad shoulders and stuff. 

“We should arm wrestle sometime,” Scorpia asked, patting Adora on the back. The girl stuttered out a breath at that, stumbling slightly from Scorpia’s less than gentle friendly gesture. Catra chuckled. Sometimes Scorpia didn’t get her own strength. 

“I,” Adora trailed off, glancing at Catra in fear. “Love a challenge, but not sure,” Scorpia’s face fell slightly. It caused Adora’s eyes to widen and scramble out a save. “Yeah! Maybe sometime,” Adora quickly amended. 

“Yes!” Scorpia cheered as they entered. “For some reason, people won’t arm wrestle me. But I think it’s so fun,” She pouted. 

“Wonder why,” Catra and Adora mumbled at the same time. Catra looked up at Adora at that, finding the blonde already grinning at her brightly. She was quick to return the smile. 

“Oh, phooey,” Scorpia complained. “Looks like this class has a seating chart.”

Catra glanced at the line of students, all groaning quietly and complaining to their friends. They took turns looking at the paper before trudging to their seats. 

“Fucking lame,” Catra said, ignoring Adora’s look of surprise. 

They walked up to the sheet, and Catra was disappointed to see Scorpia would not be sitting at her table. At least she was in the back. 

“Oh,” Adora said softly, her finger pointed at the chart. “We’re sitting next to each other again.” She looked at Catra nervously, and Catra couldn’t help but feel bad. _Did she not want to sit next to Catra again? Did Catra hurt her feelings so bad by not remembering her that she didn’t want to sit by her?_

Catra said the first thing that popped into her brain. “Looks like it, buddy.” _Gross_ , Catra internally screamed. Who says “ _buddy_ ”?!

“Lucky you guys,” Scorpia lamented. “But I guess this will be a good opportunity to make new friends!”

Adora grinned brightly at her, causing a smile to hit Catra’s face as well. “Always so positive, S,” She chuckled, patting her friend on the back. 

Scorpia ducked her head bashfully. “Oh, hey,” She said suddenly. “Can I actually talk to you real quick?”

Adora looked between the two curiously before saluting them dorkily and walking to her seat in the back, leaving Catra and Scorpia at the front of the room. Catra watched her walk away with a grin. 

“So,” Scorpia whispered into her ear, causing Catra to jump back in surprise. 

“Dude,” Catra complained. “Personal. Space.”

Scorpia continued to whisper, but gave Catra a bit more space. “Remember what we talked about in art?”

“What?”

“About Adora,” Scorpia reminded. Catra crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow, signaling for her to continue. “This class could be a good opportunity to do what we talked about. Since you were so hush-hush during lunch.”

“I was uncomfortable,” Catra defended. “And weirded out. Everyone was being all strange, including you, and we never sit with them. So, I was a little confused. Until I pieced together the reason.” She said triumphantly. 

“Really?” Scorpia asked in surprise. The total look of shock was almost offensive. 

“Duh,” Catra laughed, slapping her friend's arm. “I’m not dumb.”

“I don’t think you’re dumb,” Scorpia frowned. “You just don’t usually pick up on stuff like that.”

Catr shrugged. “Hard not to when everyone’s so obvious.”

“So, you do have a crush-“

“They were trying to set up you and Perfuma,” Catra said, puffing out her chest in pride. “Wait, what?” Catra asked when Scorpia’s words caught up to her. “I have a what?”

Scorpia stared blankly back at Catra before shaking her head. She smiled slightly. “Never mind. You’re totally right,,” Scorpia laughed, but a blush found its way into her cheeks, so Catra was fairly certain she was right. “Nothing gets past you.” 

Catra peered back suspiciously. “And you’re being weird again.”

“Just talk to her. Be nice,” Scorpia shrugged. 

“I am nice,” Catra grumbled, starting toward her seat as the teacher walked in. “And are you prompting me to not pay attention in class?”

Scorpia sent her a pointed look. “It’s syllabus day, and you don’t really pay attention anyway.”

“I-“ Catra frowned. “Got me there. Fine, I will. Not because you told me to though. Because I want to.”

Scorpia grinned so widely, Catra was half sure her face would split. “Glad you want to,” She said before skipping off to her seat. 

Catra watched her for a moment before sitting next to Adora who was pretending to be focused on her notebook. The page was blank. 

“Forget how to write?” Catra teased. 

“Huh?” Adora jumped in surprise, her pencil flying out of her hand and to the ground. “No! I just…”

_Be nice, Catra_ , she reminded herself. “I’m kidding,” She said, leaning down to pick up the pencil. 

She handed it back coolly, offering Adora her friendliest smile. The other girl looked so surprised that Catra was really starting to wonder if everyone thought she was an asshole. Were nice gestures really that far out of place for her?

Adora took it gingerly, their fingers brushing slightly. Catra wanted to shoot her hand back in discomfort - she wasn’t a huge fan of physical touch with strangers - but she held fast, not wanting to be rude. Adora’s hands were nicely warm anyway, and her table mate pulled her hand back fairly quickly. 

“Thank you,” Adora’s face scrunched up in thought for a moment before her face went through a myriad of emotions. Catra stared back attentively as Adora mumbled something so quietly she didn’t quite catch it. 

“Huh?” 

Adora’s face turned bright red, and Catra mentally kicked herself for embarrassing her. Friendships weren't built off of embarrassing the other. Catra tilted her head. _Guess she wanted to be friends with her. She did like Adora, despite their limited interactions. She could do worse._

“I said you have a really nice smile,” Adora said quickly and quietly, though Catra heard it that time. 

She felt a blush carry up to her cheeks, not used to compliments that weren’t from Scorpia. 

“Oh,” Catra cleared her throat, willing her blush to recede. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Adora smiled gently. The blush on her cheeks had turned into a delicate rosey color across her cheeks, and Catra found it...pleasing to look at. 

_Return the compliment, dunce_! 

“You,” Catra said a little too loudly, her voice even cracked slightly. She cringed before she lowered her voice. “You also have a nice smile. And… really nice hair.”

The smile she received in return was certainly at the top of her list for favorite Adora smiles. Not that she had a list or anything, but...like, you know. Adora was practically beaming back, and Catra thought that she should consider complimenting people more often if they gave her looks like that in return. It felt nice, and warm, and it filled her with a sense of pride. 

“Thank you, Catra,” Adora replied sweetly. Her name came off her tongue so kindly that Catra returned the favor. 

“You’re welcome, Adora.”

——

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Catra. At least Progress has been made! Lol. 
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for the comments and reads! I truly didn’t expect it, but I hope I do ya’ll proud.


	3. Emily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily's malfunction and Adora's big question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! I actually had this one sitting for a day or two, but I couldn't find the time to look over it until tonight. Hope you enjoy.

Catra walked leisurely to the robotics room. A lot of the students had headed straight for the exit once the bell had sounded, so at least there was less chatter than in the mornings. 

She wasn’t quite sure where the robotics room was, but she had a general idea of where it might be. She’d probably be able to hear the group of them down the hall anyway. 

_A group._

Catra had never really had a friend group before. She had Entrapta and Scorpia, and maybe they counted as a group even as a trio. But she hadn’t made many friends outside of that. Not that she immediately considered that lot to be her friends off of one lunch period together. She didn’t consider people to be her friends that quickly. 

_Maybe, Adora though._ She thought quietly. She didn’t know the girl that well either, but she knew she liked her. That was something. They had spent most of the fifth period doodling on each other’s notebooks and giggling quietly when the teacher sent them a glare. He didn’t seem to care much if people were paying attention though, as long as they weren’t too loud. 

But she liked Adora’s sense of humor, and her ability to roll with Catra’s teasing. She didn’t think it made Catra rude, she’d simply laugh and return a barb. It was nice. Adora was so...bright, too, Catra mused. Bright hair, bright eyes, bright smile. It was almost startling, but mostly pulling. Perhaps high school could be a little better with another friend. 

“That thing is insane!”

Catra’s head perked up at the sound of Glimmer’s hollering down the hallway. 

_Found them_. 

She sped up her pace to see everyone else already there, surrounding Entrapta’s robot, Emily. Entrapta was perched atop the sphere that had sprung out four legs and was starting to move, causing shrieks.

Catra let out a low whistle as she approached the group, causing a few heads to turn. “Those are new,” She pointed out, standing a bit outside the radius. “Very impressive, Entrapta.”

Entrapta deftly raised the face mask she had been wearing to grin widely at her friend. “Thanks!” Catra smiled back easily. She always thought Entrapta’s inventions were far too impressive for the high school level. She wanted to be sure to remind her friend of such. 

“Get your ass over here,” Glimmer shouted at Catra. “I’m using you as a human shield if it pulls out its chainsaw again.”

Catra laughed at that. “Oh calm down, Entrapta’s got this under control,” She cut off the inventor's response, really not wanting to hear anything to the contrary. “Don't be a baby.”

Glimmer turned around to glare at Catra. “Oh yeah? Then why’re you standing so far away?”

Catra paused, not wanting to admit she actually might be bit scared of her friend's creation.“ _Because_ we have to give it room to walk, duh,” Catra shrugged in fake nonchalants. She waved for the group to move out of the way, and Entrapta started fiddling with a control in her hand. They watched in awe as the robot slowly started down the hallway. 

“This is like the beginning of a scary movie.”

Catra jumped at the voice behind her, turning to see Adora standing behind her with a grin. She raised an eyebrow in question at the girl as the group started moving cautiously behind the robot. Most of them kept their distance even as Entrapta still sat on top of it. 

“What are you talking about?” Catra asked, falling into step with Adora. 

“Get this,” Adora started. She had taken off her jacket from earlier, wearing only her turtleneck. It was tight enough that Catra could confirm that, _yes_ , Adora did appear to be very strong. A very objective observation. “A group of teens stays after school to move a sentient robot-“

“I don’t think it’s sentient-“

“- The mad scientist suddenly loses control of the bot, and the teens wind up trapped in the school with a _sentient_ , chainsaw wielding, laser shooting robot,” Adora got more and more animated as she continued, leaving Catra to watch her silently. A smile quirked at her lips. “They must someone how find out how to escape _and_ defeat the powerful foe.” She finished, holding her hands out in a “ta-da” fashion. 

Catra gave her an unimpressed look. “Don’t become a screenwriter,” She deadpanned. 

Adora punched her playfully in the arm, and _yep,_ she definitely worked out. “Hey!” She laughed, a cute little snort mixed in. “Don’t be rude, I thought that was pretty good. It could be like a modern Frankenstein thingy”

“Thingy?” Catra laughed playfully. “Entrapta doesn't come across as the Dr. Frankenstein type.”

As if on cue, Entrapta let out a delirious cackle while shouting, "Look at my baby go! It's like she's alive!"

Adora raised a brow at Catra and the girl shrugged her shoulders. 

They walked in silence for a moment, only to be interrupted by a few shouts from the group ahead of them whenever Emily did something unexpected. 

“Perhaps Entrapta _will_ become a mad scientist,” Catra joked. “I mean, that thing is…”

“Something,” Adora finished, reminding Catra of their first conversation that had only happened that morning. Time was weird, it had felt longer. 

Catra smiled softly before a thought occurred to her. “Hey, uh,” She tore her gaze from Adora to look forward, suddenly feeling embarrassed as Adora gazed at her curiously. “I was thinking.”

“Mhmm,” Adora hummed in prompt. 

“Since we share two classes together, maybe we should, I don’t know,” Catra stuttered, feeling nervous. “Exchange numbers,” She finished lamely. 

Adora had stopped walking, forcing Catra to about face to see her reaction. “Really?” Adora asked slowly, making Catra feel even more self conscious. 

“We don’t have to-“

“Yes!” Adora interrupted loudly. She quickly cleared her throat before scratching her head sheepishly. “I mean, yes,” She said softer. 

“For like homework and stuff,” Catra felt the need to say, watching Adora’s face. 

Adora’s face shifted into an unreadable expression before being swiftly replaced with a smile. “Good idea,” She agreed, walking closer to Catra. “Super, like, studious and responsible and-“

“We could like text each other if one of us misses a day about the course work-“

“Or if the teacher assigns a project-“

“Or if somebody in class does something especially stupid, so we can mock it,” Catra completed with a grin. 

Adora smiled brightly back, just like Catra had hoped. “For sure.”

She stood a bit closer then, reaching into her pocket to hand over her phone. After unlocking it, she gave Catra the device and Catra quickly put in her number, a contact name, and texted herself a little cat emoji. When she handed it back, Adora peered down at the text before letting out a little snort. 

“A cat, like Catra?” She teased. 

Catra frowned. “No, a cat because they’re cute!” Her voice raised a bit in pitch. “Look how cute it is,” She stuck a finger against Adora’s phone, pointing aggressively at aforementioned emoji. 

“Yeah…” Adora giggled. “Super cute.”

Catra looked up to see Adora giving her a curious look before she heard Bow shouting down the hallway. 

“We need more muscle to lift this thing into the back of Scorpia’s truck! It really doesn’t want to get in, and Entrapta can’t power it down!” He sounded almost scared. 

Catra shares a wide eyed look with Adora. “Jesus,” She muttered before they took off down the hallway. 

They arrived in time to hear Scorpia and Entrapta trying to reason with the robot. _Maybe it was sentient._

“Emily,” Entrapta cooed, stroking the robot tenderly. “Darling, we are gonna take you to a new home. A really cool place with lots of space and other robot friends…”

“And I’ll even collect a bunch of wood for you to, like, chainsaw,” Scorpia used her right hand to make a chopping motion. “And we could find a bunch of cans for you to blast up!”

“You guys are trying to reason with a robot!” Glimmer shouted, hands raised toward the sky in total exasperation. “Entrapta just shut it off!”

“I tried,” Entrapta said. “But this stupid remote won’t-“

“Give it!” Bow snatched it from her hands and started fiddling with the box. 

Catra watched from afar. _Okay,_ she might be a little scared of a giant weapon wielding orb. 

“What kind of high school experience is this?” Perfuma shrieked after dodging one of Emily’s stray legs, Adora swiftly moved next to Perfuma to shield her from the bot - looking like some sort of action hero. “Stop. Emily. Down, Emily, get in the truck!” Perfuma chided fearfully. 

Catra yanked Adora and Perfuma out of the way of the robot's step and shot Perfuma a disbelieving look. “You can’t scold a robot into submission,” She argued, earning a frown from Perfuma. 

As she made sure Adora and Perfuma were okay, something over their shoulders caught her eye. 

Mermista and a wildly gesturing Seahawk were exiting the school building. Seahawk was waving his hands about, seemingly enthralled with whatever story he was telling. Mermista was nodding absentmindedly before the pair noticed the scene in front of them. 

The next thing that happened went like this: 

Seahawk lit up almost instantly before suddenly pulling something out of his bag and sprinting toward the group. “Allow me to help,” He yelled as he held up what Catra quickly recognized as a lighter. 

Catra’s only thought was _“Hell no!”_ Before she took off like a shot toward what she thought could be the single least helpful person in that moment. Adora was swift to follow. 

Seahawk ran in a stiff yet jubilant way that sort of made Catra uncomfortable, and the sight of him with his signature lighter was actually terrifying to her. 

In what felt like slow motion, they both yelled panicked, _No!'_ s, waving their own hands to stop him. Adora reached him first, placing her hands to his chest as he came skidding to a stop. “Stop!” She begged as Catra caught up to them. 

“Have no fear-“

“No!” Catra repeated. “Just no. If you light that car on fire, I swear to God.”

“But I-“ He tried to move past them. 

“I,” Catra grunted, pulling on his shoulder as Adora grasped his other one. “Will _not_ be catching on fire today.”

“There's only a thirty...forty-five percent chance that could happen...” He pouted, finally letting the two girls pull him back. 

“You,” Catra pointed an accusing finger at him. “Are a walking disaster.”

“Hey!”

“Just,” Adora huffed. “We've got it handled.” 

“And I’ll be damned if you blow up Entrapta’s robot, or Scorpia’s car, or _both_ , and all of us,” Catra added. 

“I-“ Seahawk pouted. “I wasn’t going to light anything-“

“What’s in your hand?” Catra interrupted, pointing to the lighter still clutched tightly in his fist. 

Seahawk paused before slouching in defeat. “It was just a backup plan.” 

Adora and Catra shared a deadpanned look before shaking their head at the boy. 

“I can be very helpful,” He whined. 

“Yeah, I know,” Mermista comforted once she had caught up with the trio, she gave him an awkward pat on his shoulder. 

Catra's smirk slowly crawled back onto her face. Mermista gave her a look that screamed “ _don’t even”_ before Catra shrugged flippantly. 

She and Adora turned back to the group to see how they were fairing. Bow was holding up the remote in victory as Emily did indeed climb into the bed of Scorpia’s truck and powered down. 

“Have fun with your _plans_ ,” Catra threw over her shoulder sassily before heading back to her friends. 

“Fuck you!” Mermista called out, causing Catra to laugh loudly. 

“Thanks for the help, you two,” Glimmer snarked halfheartedly as she slumped against Scorpia’s tailgate. 

“Hey,” Adora frowned. “We just saved you guys from imminent death.”

Catra nodded along proudly. “We’re really the true heroes of this ordeal,” She added with a joking smile. 

“Right…” Perfuma drawled. Her hair was all out of place, and her face was bright red as she braced herself on her knees. 

“Guess it was a good thing we brought back up,” Scorpia said cheerily, clapping her hands excitedly. “We’re, like, an awesome team!”

“Go team!” Bow cheered back with genuine pep. 

“Woohoo,” Catra and Glimmer replied sarcastically, sharing a look when they realized. 

“This calls for celebration,” Bow exclaimed. “We should all hangout at tomorrow's basketball game and get food after!”

Catra scrunched her nose up at the thought of a basketball game. She didn’t prefer to spend her nights out of class _back_ at the school. She was about to decline as the rest of the group agreed excitedly, until she felt a timid hand on her shoulder. 

“You’re coming, right?” Adora asked, tilting her head in question. 

“I-“ Catra could feel Scorpia glaring -or at least the closest thing Scorpia could muster to a glare - at the side of her face, and sighed softly. “Yeah, sure.” _She wanted to be Adora’s friend anyway, right? And the rest of them were...acceptable._

“Awesome!” Adora beamed, bright as ever. “So…” she trailed off as the group began to disperse to head home. 

“So?” Catra repeated, eyeing the girl curiously. 

Adora cleared her throat awkwardly before stepping away and giving Catra a small wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Uh, yeah,” Catra replied starting toward Scorpia’s car with her friends. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” She waved back easily as Adora spun on her foot and headed over toward her own friends. 

As Catra watched her walk away, she felt another hand on her shoulder. 

“Agreeing to a basketball game, huh?” Scorpia said from beside her. 

“Yeah, well,” Catra waved her off. “The whole group is going, so it’d be rude to be the only one to say no, right?” She walked away from her friend to hop into the back of her truck. 

“I’m proud of you, Wildcat,” Scorpia called as she got into the driver’s seat. 

“For what?”

“Opening up to new things,” Scorpia smiled at Catra through the review window, and the other girl shrugged as Entrapta entered the vehicle. The girl quickly started a rant about all of the things she was going to fix on Emily. 

_Right,_ Catra thought to herself, mulling over Scorpia’s words. _It couldn’t hurt to have more friends._

——

Adora was rushing to class. Running, really. The bell was about to ring, and she had never been late to a class a day in her life. _Jeez Louise,_ she thought to herself as she rounded a turn down her class’s hallway. _I spent way too much time getting ready this morning._

She had spent the morning caught up in her daydreams, thinking about school, what she’d do if she were a superhero, _Catra._

_Catra_. 

Adora grinned slightly even though she was practically out of breath from her sprint to class. It had been weeks of them sitting next to each other in classes, and though they’d only hung out twice outside of class (the robot incident and the basketball game Adora was ninety-percent sure Catra did not enjoy one bit), Adora couldn’t help but feel like she’d made some promising progress with her crush. 

Their now larger group ate together almost everyday at lunch, Catra nearly always laughed at Adora’s jokes - even the ones she knew were bad - and Catra had texted Adora four times without the excuse of homework or classes. It made Adora gleeful to know that the girl actually wanted to talk to her outside of class. 

When she finally burst through the door, the bell rang, and the whole class looked up at her admittedly loud entrance. She heard a giggle as the teacher glared at her and turned to see Catra grinning at her from her seat. 

Her heart fluttered slightly as she apologized quickly to Casta and headed to her seat swiftly. 

“Nice entrance,” Catra jibed, as Adora sat, twirling her pencil between her fingers casually. 

“Shut up,” Adora replied, shoving her lightly. She could feel the blood rising in her face, but tried her best to act as casual as possible. Catra looked very pretty. Even though she was only wearing a simple red hoodie and her curls tied up in a ponytail, she always managed to look put together.

Catra simply laughed, earning another scolding look from their teacher, before reaching up to touch one of Adora’s flyways. “You look like you ran a marathon to get here,” She teased, and Adora swatted her hand away, flushing even more. 

“I didn’t want to be late,” Adora huffed. She pulled out her materials for the class as Catra turned to doodle on her own notebook. 

“Dork.” Adora could her the affection in her voice, and it sent her insides kicking.

The class went by per usual- Adora trying her best to pay attention while still doodling back and forth with Catra in each other’s notebooks. Adora would never admit that she spent the classes she didn’t share with the girl staring at them absentmindedly with a blush on her cheeks, _nope_ , _no way._

And when the class would end, Adora would take her time cleaning up her belongings while Catra lingered and talked about random things. Songs she was listening to, shows she had seen, or something particularly stupid she’d seen someone do in the hallway. Adora would always laugh, or prompt her to tell her more and reply with her own music she had found, and the pair would finally head towards the door where Adora would give a reluctant parting and embarrassingly long for the lunch period or her fifth period to roll around. 

Bow and Glimmer would harass her with details, beg her to follow the plan, and Adora would come up with a lame excuse about how it wasn’t the right time. 

She knew deep down that it had more to do with her own fear, and she was sure Glimmer and Bow knew as much from the looks they gave her. But things were just too perfect. What if she told Catra about her feelings, and they weren’t returned? That would be the end of them sitting together in class, joking and laughing easily, eating lunch together, and texting each other outside of school. 

And a huge obstacle had arisen a week into the school year when Adora realized she was missing one very important factor. 

_Did Catra even like girls?_

Catra had no dating history that Adora was aware of, had never expressed any interest in anyone since they’d been talking, and was almost closed off when they even sort of broached the topic of romance. 

It wasn’t a question Adora felt comfortable asking outright. 

“So,” Bow said, nudging Adora excitedly. “How’d today go?”

“Did we make it to the next step?” Glimmer added with just as much vigor. 

“Uh,” Adora paused, scratching the back of her neck nervously. “No. We’re still at a standstill.” 

“C’mon, Adora,” Glimmer whined, shooting her friend a disappointed look. “It’s been three weeks!”

“I’m building a friendship,” Adora defended, receiving unimpressed looks from both friends. 

“You’re stalling,” Bow countered. 

“I- well, maybe!” Adora threw her hands up in defeat. “I’m nervous! And I really like what we have going right now.”

“But it’s not what you want,” Glimmer pointed out. 

“I’m not even sure what step we’re on, we went all out of order and now I’m confused,” Adora continued in frustration. 

“Forget the stupid plan-“

“-Hey!” Bow frowned, holding his chest in faux hurt. “It’s not stupid!”

“Twelve steps is overkill,” Glimmer shot back before turning to Adora. “You already have her attention to a degree, you have her number, we sit with her everyday at lunch-“

“-as a group,” Adora interrupted. “For all we know she’s just there because we’re sitting with her friends and would be fine not sitting with us-“

“She spends way more time talking to you than her friends,” Bow pointed out. “And she always smiles at you. “I can count on one hand the amount of times she’s smiled at me for walking up to her.”

“Because of the established friendship. We’re closer, and she takes time to warm up to people,” Adora explained. 

“Warmed up to you real fast,” Glimmer mumbled. “And,” She held up a hand to stop Adora from arguing. “Neither of us have her number. I don’t think Mermista or Perfuma have it either.”

“And if you say it’s for class…” Bow also held up his hand before Adora could speak. “I will have to agree with Glimmer in saying that you are, indeed, a useless lesbian.”

“And that’s the problem!” Adora finally let out, causing Bow and Glimmer to shoot her confused looks. 

“That you’re a lesbian?” Bow asked. 

“No!” Adora groaned, slapping her forehead dramatically. “No, the problem is that we don’t know if she’s even into girls.”

The pair paused at that as they arrived at the door to their class. They shared a look before turning to Adora. 

“I know it’s wrong to assume people’s sexuality,” Bow started. 

“But Catra gives some real hard women loving women vibes,” Glimmer finished plainly. “We would all know, we have great gaydars. Well, except for you, Adora.”

“Seriously?” Adora pouted. 

“Only in regards to girls you think are pretty,” Bow added, patting Adora on the shoulder. 

“It’s the gay girl curse,” Glimmer lamented, looking off into the distance theatrically. “And what are the chances our entire lunch group is queer to an extent except for Catra? Everyone knows the gays flock together, even unknowingly.”

“Beside the point,” Bow continued. “That will be the next amended step to the plan.”

“Amendment: Does Catra like the ladies?” Glimmer punctuated with her hands gesturing to the imaginary title in the air. “I.e., D.C-“

“No more acronyms,” Adora said, brushing past the two to enter the class. “We just… how do I figure it out without being creepy?” Adora scrunched up her face in thought. 

“And subtly as to not scare her off,” Bow added thoughtfully, scratching his own chin. 

“And what if she is gay and isn’t ready to be out,” Glimmer said, and Adora’s face fell. 

She didn’t even think about that. 

“But don’t worry,” Bow cut in quickly. “We’ll try dropping some hints, and if she wants to come out, she will when she’s ready.”

“Or she’ll be straight,” Adora grumbled dejectedly. 

“Again,” Glimmer said as they took their seats. “I really doubt that.”

Adora hoped she was right. 

——-

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much reading and all the support! This fic is doing better than I expected, and I'm so happy you guys are liking it so far.


	4. GSA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questioning ensues.

“Perfuma and I are going on a date this weekend.”

Catra’s head shot up in surprise, her mouth agape. “No way!” Just the distraction she needed from her stupid, stupid art project. 

Scorpia was glowing with pride, an air of giddiness practically emanating from her pores. She smiled so widely Catra’s cheeks hurt just looking at it. Feeling her own chest swell with delight, she slapped Scorpia’s shoulder with glee.

“Dude!” She exclaimed, putting down her pencil and turning away from her work completely. “That’s amazing, I - Wait, who asked who?”

Scorpia was just about bouncing in her chair, her work also completely forgotten at that point. “I did!”

“You Casanova!”

“Right?” Scorpia giggled happily, she was nearly clapping with joy. “I can’t believe I actually did it.”

“I’m _so_ proud of you,” Catra replied genuinely. Scorpia was usually so nervous with those kinds of things. 

“Thanks, Wildcat,” Scorpia returned sweetly. “You know she told me she had a crush on me since last school year, and I didn’t even know?” 

“Well, I figured it out on the first day of school,” Catra said proudly. “You should’ve seen the blush on her face,” She chuckled.

“Huh,” Scorpia was acting nonchalant, but Catra could see the flush on her cheeks and the embarrassed way she tapped her pencil. “Guess we’re both not good at picking up signals.”

“I-“ Catra raised a brow at her curiously. “Excuse me?”

Scorpia cleared her throat before continuing her drawing. “You didn’t know I had a crush on you for our first year of friendship in eight grade.”

“ _Okay_ ,” Catra murmured, turning back to her own drawing distractedly. “In my defense, you are incredibly friendly to everyone.”

“I asked you to the dance and bought us matching corsages,” Scorpia deadpanned. 

“I thought it was a friendship thing!” Catra huffed. “I don’t make a lot of friends, so somethings admittedly go over my head. But I'm working on it,” Catra flushed in embarrassment, and her voice lowered just a bit in vulnerability. 

“Well…” Scorpia trailed off. She looked up to give Catra a comforting smile and shrugged her shoulders. “I wasn’t right for you in that way anyway. We’re better as besties! And now you’re making even more friends this year, and I’m so proud of you.”

Catra rolled her eyes playfully. “As you’ve told me, multiple times the last few weeks. Sometimes I think you’re more excited about me making friends than I am myself.”

“I just want you to be happy.” And, _God_ , talk about puppy eyes, Catra melted at the sight. 

“Thanks,” She scratched the back of her neck nervously. “I want you to be happy too. That’s why I’m so pumped about the date. Perfuma’s...nice,” Catra winced at how awkward she sounded. 

“She is!” Scorpia didn’t miss a beat, barreling into a rant. “She’s so kind, and pretty -her little freckles? Adorable. And she’s so good with plants, and she is really supportive, too-“

“You don’t have to convince me,” Catra laughed, but let Scorpia continue all of the reasons as to why Perfuma was so great. 

Her attention went to her notebook on her desk. She smiled softly to herself. She flipped it open to the section where her English notes were supposed to be, but they were primarily covered in poorly done doodles by Adora. 

“Since when were you a horse girl?” 

Catra yelped slightly, slamming her notebook shut in a swift motion before glaring at Scorpia. “Snoopy!” 

Scorpia laughed at that. “You look like you’re doing more drawing in your other classes than in our actual drawing class,” She pointed down at Catra’s half finished project, earning another hard glare. 

“They’re not even mine,” Catra defended, holding the notebook to her chest. “I am most definitely _not_ a horse girl. _Adora’s_ the one weirdly obsessed.”

“Adora?” Scorpia prompted. 

“Yeah…” Catra laughed at the thought. “She has… here check this out,” She flipped open the book to a certain page and placed it on the desk. She scooted it over toward her friend and pointed at a specific drawing that was slightly bigger than the rest. “This guy is named Swift Wind. It’s her imaginary friend from when she was little,” Catra giggled. Where she gestured was a poorly done drawing of a grinning horse with lucious locks and ill proportioned wings coming out of his back.

“Why does he have wings?” Scorpia pointed. “Wouldn't he be a pegasus or something?”

“He’s imaginary,” Catra replied. “He can be whatever he wants… at least that’s what Adora says. He can fly or something.” 

“Huh,” Scorpia said thoughtfully. “That’s cute.”

“Yeah,” Catra agreed offhandedly. She did find Adora’s obsession a little weird, but mostly endearing. _She didn’t even own a horse_. Catra’s eyes wandered through the drawings absentmindedly. 

Scorpia tapped on her desk for a moment before clearing her throat. “So…” She started softly, tearing Catra’s eyes away from the page. “What’s up with you guys anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Catra asked stupidly. “We’re friends.”

“Good friends?”

Catra paused, eyeing Scorpia thoughtfully. “We’ve only known each other like a month, but…” She shrugged. “I really enjoy spending time with her, it’s weird. It’s like… we just click. Like we were meant to be friends. It’s just so easy to talk and laugh, and she doesn’t mind if I get grumpy. It’s nice.”

“Sounds like you guys are getting close,” Scorpia said in a strange tone, setting of alarm bells in Catra's head.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, no!” She replied quickly, placing a hand over Scorpia’s in what she hoped was a comforting manner. “You will always be my best friend, Scorps. That’ll never change.” She nodded her head earnestly, hoping she hadn’t hurt her friend’s feelings in any way. 

“I-“ Scorpia shook her head in what felt like exasperation. “I’m not worried about that, Wildcat. We’re besties forever, and I _want_ you to make other friends. I’m happy you’re feeling connected to someone else. That wasn’t what I was… I’m not upset.” 

“You sure?”

“Super sure,” Scorpia laughed. “ _Totally_ unrelated… but do you plan on ever dating in high school?” 

Catra’s mouth fell open at what felt like mental whiplash. “That’s kinda...out of the blue…” Catra stalled, blushing slightly. “I… don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t know,” Catra shrugged. “I find people attractive and all, but I haven’t thought about… actually, you know, engaging in a relationship like that or anything.”

“I get that,” Scorpia accepted. “Relationships are tricky.”

“I wouldn’t know, but,” Catra laughed. 

The bell sounded, and Catra whipped her head toward her very unfinished project. She plopped her head onto her desk dramatically with a loud groan. 

“Uh-oh,” Scorpia winced. “These projects are due at the beginning of next period-“

“I know!” Catra interrupted, lifting her head with a pout. “Now I have to spend my lunch doing this stupid thing unless I wanna stay after school, which-” Catra shuddered at the thought. 

“I can stay with you?” Scorpia offered. 

“No,” Catra waved her off. “Go spend lunch with your girl. I’ll just end up talking to you the whole time if you stay anyway. Then I'll definitely fail this project.” 

Scorpia sent her a hesitant smile before gathering up her belongings. Catra looked over to her art teacher who seemed to be silently saying “ _Again? Really?”_

Catra shrugged helplessly at him, and he sent her a kind smile. She returned it halfheartedly. 

“Want me to bring you some food during fifth?” Scorpia asked as she headed toward the door. 

“Yes, please,” Catra affirmed before waving goodbye. 

She glanced down at her project with a frown. If she worked diligently enough, she could probably finish it during lunch and get a solid grade. She picked up her pencil. 

_Let’s do this thing._

——

Adora listened tepidly to one of Entrapta’s rants about...physics, she guessed, as she waited for Catra to arrive at the table. She felt a tad bit rude, but couldn’t help herself. At least Bow, Glimmer, and Perfuma were patiently listening, so she didn’t feel too awful about it. 

She glanced down at her phone, thinking about sending a text to check in, but she didn’t want to be too eager. 

Her head shot up _eagerly_ when she heard someone sit down and tried not to look too obviously disappointed when it was just Mermista and Seahawk.

“Ahoy, fellow lunchmates!” Seahawk greeted, his hand raised in a two fingered salute. “The grub looks delicious this fine day.” Adora gave a friendly smile in return to the...weird greeting. 

_Catra would’ve laughed her ass off about that,_ She thought absentmindedly. She spotted Scorpia with her lunch tray approaching the table, sadly, sans Catra. 

“Where’s grumpy?” Glimmer asked, apparently noticing Catra’s absence quickly as well. 

“Oh, she had to finish her art project,” Scorpia explained as she sat beside a smiling Perfuma. “She has trouble getting those done on time.”

“Really?” Bow asked. 

“Yeah,” Scorpia hummed. “Something about lack of inspiration combined with the idea of being told what to draw.”

“That tracks,” Glimmer nodded. “She’s stubborn.”

“You’re one to talk,” Mermista said. “You’re just as bad at being told what to do.”

“One could say,” Seahawk pulled out some large gold coin from his pocket and held it up mysteriously. “You’re two sides of the same coin.”

“Get that-“ Glimmer smacked the coin out of his hand angrily, her face taking on a clearly affronted look. “We are not!”

Seahawk scrambled to grab the coin, seemingly unbothered by the outburst.

“You kinda sounded like her right then,” Scorpia said. 

“Yeah...” Adora trailed off delicately. “And you’re both pretty stubborn. Remember when you spent the entire lunch period last week arguing about whether or not sherbet or ice cream was better?”

"Sherbet is for cowards!"

"She's lactose intolerant! She can't have dairy-"

"That doesn't make it better-

“- You both also have problems with authority,” Bow added. 

“And... _Sharp_ humor,” Perfuma continued. 

“Emotionally dense?” Mermista tacked on. 

“And you’re both short!” Seahawk finished helpfully. 

“You’re just weirdly tall!”

“Ha!” Scorpia laughed happily. “You sounded just like her again. She says that to me!”

“Okay,” Glimmer pouted, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. “New subject.”

“Oh!” Bow said, turning to Scorpia. “I actually had something to ask you.”

Adora narrowed her eyes suspiciously. _He better not ..._

“ I was listening to this album the other day,” he continued at Scorpia’s acknowledgment. “And I just thought maybe Catra might like it. Has she ever heard of Girl in Red?”

Adora went bug eyed at that. _Could you be anymore obvious?_

“Uh…” Scorpia’s face twisted up in genuine thought. “Not sure.”

“Hayley Kiyoko?” Glimmer implored. 

If looks could kill, Glimmer would be dead as a door nail in the middle of Brightmoon’s cafeteria. She ignored Adora’s death stare, focused solely on Scorpia who chewed slowly in thought. Adora couldn’t help but hone in on the response. 

“Hmm,” She hummed, swallowing her food and looking up in thought. Why the hell was she taking so long to answer? “Never heard of them. Don’t think so. She really likes alternative rock or something.”

_Goddammit._

“What?” Perfuma piped up, gasping lightly. “She’s so good!”

“She’s okay,” Mermista added. “I’m more of a Clairo stan myself.”

"Hayley walked so they could run-"

“ _Anyway_ ,” Glimmer interrupted, side eyeing the other two. “Does Catra by chance own a pair of Doc Martens?” 

“She wears a pair in the winter sometimes,” Scorpia answered, growing more confused by each question. “But she owns lots of shoes. Really likes converse…”

“Interesting,” Glimmer hummed. 

“Does Catra enjoy sailboats?” Seahawk suddenly said, earning even more flummoxed looks from the table. “What? Are we not asked random questions about Catra?”

“She hates water,” Scorpia answered slowly. “Why?”

Adora suddenly noticed Entrapta tapping furiously on her tablet, listening intently to the conversation. 

“I have a theory,” Entrapta spoke up, causing Adora to stiffen in fear. “Judging by the line of questions, barring Seahawks, and Glimmer's reaction before…”

“What?” Glimmer scrunched up her face. 

“I would conclude that…” Entrapta held up her tablet victoriously to the group. “Glimmer has romantic inclinations toward Catra!” On the screen read in big letters “ **Human Attraction”**. 

“ _What_?!” Glimmer repeated in outrage, her face flushed harshly as her mouth fell open.

Bow and Mermista busted into hysterical giggles while Seahawk simply awed and said, “Astute observations!”

Adora wasn’t even sure how to react. 

“Your heightened emotional responses to Catra’s ‘antics’, your line of questions made to subtly ask if Catra was interested in females, and of course-“

“I do _not_ like Catra!” Glimmer hollered. Adora was sure they were catching the attention of other tables now, but she still sat quietly. 

She knew Glimmer didn’t, but she was still processing the whole line of conversation. 

“What’s wrong with Catra?” Scorpia frowned. “She’s gorgeous, and nice, and-“

“And a pain in my butt!” Glimmer argued . Every time they interacted they did get into petty arguments and tease each other, but Adora felt Glimmer’s reaction was a tad… dramatic. “There’s someone- I. _Jesus_ . No. Just no, I don't, I was just curious because…” She looked around the table for help since everyone except Entrapta (perhaps Scorpia) knew who _actually_ had the crush. 

“Everyone here is, like, a little gay, right?” Adora finally said, earning a few looks from the table. “And so… we were just curious about Catra.” She really hoped that was a good enough save.

“Oh,” Scorpia giggled. “I guess that’s true.”

“We’re like the GSA over here,” Mermista added, and Adora sent her a grateful look. “Is she an S or a G?”

Scorpia shrugged. “Why didn’t you guys just ask her yourself?”

“We didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable,” Bow explained. “And we know it’s not our business either way! We just… yeah.”

“I’m not sure.”

Adora stared back blankly. “What?”

“She doesn’t really talk about that stuff,” Scorpia expounded. “I mean, she did have a pretty suspicious need for attention from Lonnie in sixth grade, but… I just figured if she had questions or already knew, she’d come to me when she was ready.” 

“That makes sense,” Perfuma nodded. 

“Yeah…” Glimmer trailed off, barely concealing her disappointment. 

“I don’t want to push her,” Scorpia went on. “She scares pretty easily.” 

“Hmm,” Entrapta hummed, going back to typing on her tablet. “That’s certainly true. One time freshman year Catra made a new friend, and they told Catra they liked her, and she avoided them the rest of the year. I believe it had something to do with anxiety.”

Adora’s face fell.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t risk losing Catra as a friend. They had made so much progress, and as over said as it was, she would rather have Catra as a friend than nothing at all. 

She felt Bow place a comforting hand on her shoulder as she breathed in shakily. 

“That’s… harsh.” Mermista said awkwardly. 

“She apologized during the summer,” Scorpia defended strongly. “She sometimes doesn’t get people that well. Even more than that, she seems to really struggle with the concept of relationships. Friendships or romance. Too much too fast, and she gets scared off.”

Adora felt her heart drop even more. What if she was pushing Catra too far? What if Catra stopped being her friend because she was too intense about their friendship or too needy or-

“She’s working on it though,” Scorpia said. “After all, she’s pretty good with me and Entrapta. And… she warmed up to you guys pretty well.”

“-Ish,” Glimmer said pointedly. 

The end of lunch sounded and Adora stood shakily up from her chair. Her own anxiety felt through the roof. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to go to fifth period and spend the whole class worrying about how she acted toward Catra. 

“Hey, Adora,” Scorpia said, she nodded her head toward the shorter blonde. “Can I talk to you on the way to class?”

Adora’s nerves kept building. “Sure?” She spoke timidly. 

They fell into step, and Scorpia was silent for a moment. “You look worried.”

“Oh, no!” Adora denied quickly. “No, it’s just. I was just thinking about Catra. I don’t want to, you know, scare her off. With my _friendship_ ,” She amended stiffly. 

“You know,” Scorpia said seriously. “I pretty much inserted myself into Catra’s life, and we’re the bestest of friends.”

“Uh,” Adora wasn’t sure how to respond. 

“She would’ve ran for the hills,” Scorpia continued. “But… sometimes people just click. Catra is really obvious with things if you pay attention. It’s obvious when she wants to stop talking, when she doesn’t like someone, and when she feels uncomfortable.”

“What’re you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Scorpia stopped Adora by the shoulder, looking her in the eyes with an earnest gaze. “I’d be able to tell from a mile away if Catra was ready to bolt out of someone’s life. And, Catra likes you. She feels comfortable. So, while what I said about her being scared easily is true… something about you guys just clicks. Even to her.”

Adora’s stomach was practically doing flips. “Really?” She asked softly. 

Scorpia nodded. “Your friendship is special. You don’t have to tiptoe around her.” She finished. 

“Friendship,” Adora repeated. “Yeah.”

Scorpia continued to walk, and Adora fell into step beside her once more. 

_Friendship_. 

When they arrived at their class, Scorpia stopped her once more. And, Adora had never seen her look so serious before. “One more thing,” She said. “Whatever you want? Tread carefully. Promise me you won’t hurt her.” 

Despite Adora’s slight horror at being called out, she felt the need to assure the girl as best she could. “I’d never want to do that. She’s… she’s really special.”

The easy going smile was once again on the taller girl’s face. “She really is.” 

——

**30 minutes earlier.**

“You wouldn’t have to keep doing this if you actually did your work in class.”

Catra looked up from her project in annoyance, scrunching her face up at her teacher. “I’m aware,” She grumbled. “But you can't force inspiration, Mr. Micah.” She turned back to her project. 

He laughed at that. “Guess you’re right about that,” He walked over to her project, making the student self conscious. “Gotta admit though, when you actually get going, you’re pretty good.”

Catra stared at the project for a moment. It was a girl by the ocean, a half shaded compass tattoo sat on her back, and the beach was mostly unfinished. The sea was only partly shaded, and the sky hadn’t even been started except for a lonely cloud in the corner. She had spent most of her class time on the details of the girl when she had decided what to draw. 

“It’s okay,” Catra replied, continuing the shading. “I’m starting to think I’m going to have to take this home though. I know we're not supposed to take our stuff home, but I’ll have to spend at least another hour or two to get this finished. 

Micah hummed softly before tapping the desk beside her. “What’s the inspiration behind this one again?”

Catra sat back in her seat, eyeing the picture critically before looking up. Micah was looking back with genuine curiosity from his seat on what was Scorpia’s desk in class. 

“I guess,” Catra started. “The prompt was ”My Life”, right? So… this, this is how I feel sometimes. See, there’s this vast amount of ocean. It’s endless in a way. The clouds, when I get them in there, sort of block the view of the rest of it, obscuring it from the girl.”

“Right,” He prompted. 

“So… I guess the question is if the girl is brave enough to just… Go into the unknown? I mean, personally I don’t even like water,” Catra chuckled. “But there’s this idea of freedom behind it. But it’s also scary. There’s so much life has to offer, but...you could easily get swept away in the things that don’t matter. Or, even just terrible things that happen in life if you don’t protect yourself-“

“But you’d also run the risk of missing out on many of life’s joys,” Micah finished politely. “You could miss out on some particularly wonderful things that… you wouldn’t find on the safety of the beach?”

“Yeah,” Catra affirmed quietly. “I think that’s what I’m trying to convey.”

“Interesting.”

“I know it’s cliche,” She replied in insecurity. “I’m not like an artist or whatever.” 

“I quite enjoy it,” He said encouragingly. “Tell you what. You take this home, take your time with it. Next class, actually do your work on the next project _in_ class, and if you finish this one by the end of the semester, I’d love to see it again. No points docked for late work or anything.”

“You’re kidding,” Catra looked up at him suspiciously. 

“I’m really not,” He smiled. “Take your time with this one. It seems important to you.”

She stared at him in disbelief, but seeing no deceit on his face, nodded slowly. 

Once the bell rang, she quickly packed up all her stuff before turning toward him as he sat at his desk. 

“Thank you, sir,” She tried in her most respectful tone. 

“No problem,” He replied. “And Ms. Carrero?”

“Yeah?” She lingered by the door to listen. 

“Try not to give my daughter too much of a hard time?”

She stared back in confusion. “Who’s your daughter?”

He smiled. “Glimmer.”

Catra’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “No way.”

“Yes, way,” He laughed loudly. “Now get to class!” He teased. 

Catra exited their classroom flabbergasted. She shook her head in disbelief. 

_Huh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of Adora/Catra interaction this chapter! Next chapter will be way more Adora/Catra heavy. I actually enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it. 
> 
> Once again, thank you for the lovely comments and kudos. It means a lot.


	5. What's a Crush?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora watch movies and talk crushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter is probably the heaviest Catra and Adora chapter thus far, and the longest chapter I've written, so I hope you enjoy:)
> 
> Thank you again for the kindness.

“I’m telling you right now, Mr. Hordak is not a robot!” Glimmer shouted. “That doesn’t even make sense!”

“I’ll tell you what doesn’t make sense,” Catra contended, leaning across the lunch table to point at Glimmer. “I’ve never seen the man eat-”

“He eats in the teachers lounge-”

“And he blinks _significantly_ less than a normal human should!”

“You don’t even have a class with him,” Glimmer shot back. “How would you know?”

“I’ve seen the guy at Entrapta’s robotics competitions last year and walking the halls, speaking of which,” Catra continued with more confidence than she should have in the argument. She knew that. But the look on Glimmer’s face was too good to pass up on. “Have you seen the way he walks? Very robot like.”

“So your conclusion is that he _is_ a robot?!” Glimmer exclaimed in exasperation. Her hands were thrown into the air, and the rest of the lunch table watched in amusement. 

Catra shrugged her shoulders. “I also saw him fall asleep once. He literally, like, powered down.” Catra did her best to mimic the motion, slowly drooping her head and slumping her shoulders. She did her best sound impression of a machine powering down. Her over dramatic re-enactment garnered the exact response she had hoped for. 

Glimmer’s face went bright red, her mouth opening and closing as if she physically could not figure out how to respond. “I-” Glimmer turned to a mildly interested Entrapta. “Tell her she’s insane.”

Entrapta’s eyes lit up. “Well, the average human blinks about ten times a minute, right?” The group simply shrugged in response. “So, all we would have to do is observe him for a class period, count up his blinks-”

“Okay!” Bow held his hands up. “We all know Mr. Hordak is NOT a robot, right? So therefore, such an experiment would be a waste of time, and a _little_ creepy.”

“He does blink an eerily small amount,” Adora interjected. Catra could see the little smirk on Adora’s face, and it made her ridiculously pleased that she was playing along. 

Catra pointed at Adora happily. “See?”

“This is a ridiculous line of conversation,” Glimmer groaned, rubbing her temples. “You guys are so weird.” She pointed toward the duo as well as Entrapta who was typing something on her tablet that Catra _just knew_ was related to the foolish debate she had started. 

“What if you just poured a glass of water on him?” Seahawk suggested excitedly. He looked far too invested and far too proud of his idea. “Then we would know-”

“We are not pouring water on a teacher,” Mermista shut down in exasperation. Though, she still patted a deflated Seahawk on the back in an attempt to comfort him. 

“You’re saying this is ridiculous,” Adora’s smile turned mischievous as she turned to Glimmer. “But you were the one convinced Casta was a sorcerer-”

“I swear during every holiday, she just appears in rooms,” Glimmer defended adamantly. “And last year her water glass magically had wine in it-”

“Wouldn’t that make her, like, Jesus or something?” Catra teased. 

“Whatever,” Glimmer grumbled, glaring at the pair even harder. “It’s not weirder than thinking the robotics teacher is an actual robot.”

“Disagree,” Entrapta retaliated. “Robots are 100% real, as for magic…”

“Plus,” Scorpia added, looking like she had an epiphany. “Who would know how robots work better than a robot themselves?”

“The people who invented them?” Mermista chimed in. 

“Right,” Perfuma agreed with her own excitement. “The universe knows us better than we could ever know ourselves.”

“Can we _please_ talk about something else?” Glimmer whined. 

“Oh!” Bow held up his finger as if he had a realization. Catra could tell by the look in his eyes that he had been sitting on it for awhile. “What we _should_ be talking about is the dance next weekend!”

Catra let out a long groan, flopping her head onto the lunchtable. She felt Adora reach over and pat her shoulder sympathetically, causing a small smile to tug at her lips. 

“Yes!” Scorpia cheered. “We should all go as a group.”

Catra looked up, viewing the pointed look Scorpia gave her with distaste. She mulled over the idea in her head. She’d decided weeks ago that she liked her new friends well enough, but the idea of a high school dance sounded horrible no matter the company. It’d be like the basketball game all over again, only this time in uncomfortable clothes and ten times more crowded. 

“What about dates?” Mermista pointed out. “I mean, not that I have one.”

“I thought we were going together?” Seahawk pouted.

Catra snorted softly at Merista’s panicked look. 

“Everyone who wants to go as a couple can still go as dates,” Perfuma suggested. “But maybe we could all drive together and hang out?”

“Enough of us are single it won’t be too depressing,” Glimmer concluded.

“My parents could even get a limo,” Perfuma’s excitement continued to grow, and Catra did slightly perk up at the idea of a limo.

“Bougie,” She whistled.

“So, we’re all going?” Adora asked, looking around the table before landing on Catra. 

She raised a questioning brow, causing the other girl to pull at her headphones nervously. It didn’t sound fun, she knew that. She wasn’t even sure she owned formal wear. It would be loud, and crowded, and sweaty, and-

“I think it would be a lot of fun,” Adora said so softly that Catra wondered if anyone else even heard her. She looked nervous, fidgeting in her seat, and Catra realized she was nervous because of her. 

She froze slightly. She didn’t like that. She had already forgone Homecoming much to the sparkling trio and Scorpia’s disappointment. She hadn’t been to a high school dance yet, and it could be good for experience's sake, she reasoned. 

“Sounds good to me,” She tried to say casually, but immediately found herself matching Adora’s ecstatic grin. 

“Coolio,” Adora replied.

Glimmer immediately started to laugh, and Adora was quick to slap her on the shoulder. 

“Okay?” Merista drawled out, raising a brow at Catra who returned it in confusion. “Now that _that_ whole _thing_ is settled, what time is everyone getting picked up?”

The table started a discussion of whose houses were where and what was the best route to take to, in Glimmer’s words, “Arrive Fashionably Late”. Catra didn’t really care much. She was more so focused on the idea of what the hell she was going to wear. 

_I wonder what Adora will wear?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the bell, signaling the end of lunch. Scorpia got up swiftly to walk Perfuma to class. Luckily the other girl’s class was close to theirs, so Scorpia would have enough time to do so. The past few weeks of this had left Adora and Catra to walk to class alone. 

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Adora said as they walked to class. 

Catra simply shrugged. “I guess I want to.”

“You guess?”

“Well,” Catra peered at her still nervous companion. “I wouldn’t have agreed otherwise.”

“But I felt like you only agreed because I asked,” Adora explained. 

“What if I _want_ to go because _you_ want me to,” Catra started, glancing at Adora from the corner of her eye. “Because I, like, care about you or whatever.” Catra finished lamely. 

Adora flushed in a pretty way that made Catra a little too happy. “That…” Adora shook her head, gripping the straps of her backpack tightly. “But I want _you_ to want to.”

“I want to because you want me to,” Catra said again. “Why isn’t that enough? Plus, Scorpia and Entrapta, and all our other lame friends want me to, so… I want to.” Catra scrunched her face up at the convoluted reasoning. It made sense to her, at least. 

“What would you want to do instead?”

“Not be around a bunch of sweaty horndogs and terrible music,” Catra joked, reveling in the giggle Adora let out. “But I also am not opposed to spending the night with my friends. I’m trying to be positive and outgoing. _Plus_ , we get to go in a limo. So, that’s a solid win right there.”

Adora paused for a moment. “I guess that is a win,” She finally said with a chuckle. “Who knew Perfuma’s parents were rich?”

“Eh,” Catra shrugged. “She’s always had rich kid energy.”

Adora laughed loudly at that when they arrived at their class. Catra joined in easily, adoring how easy it was to be around Adora. 

“Hey,” Adora said softer when they had sat down, arriving a bit earlier than expected. “If, uh, if you want to, you should come over this Friday.”

Catra felt her stomach swoop at the prospect. She was nervous. She had only been to Scorpia or Entrapta’s houses in the last few years, and the idea of going to Adora’s was a little nerve wracking. Yet, once again, seeing Adora’s anxiousness on her face made Catra want to soothe it immediately. 

“Sounds fun.”

Adora lit up again, and Catra was quick to return the energy. It felt all too natural to do. 

“You could come over after school?” Adora proposed happily. “We could watch movies, and talk, and eat some snacks. We could do whatever, really.”

“I,” Catra rapped her fingers on her desk. “I am totally down.”

“You sure?”

“Totally,” Catra repeated stupidly. 

“Okay,” Adora smiled slightly. “It’s a...plan.”

“Tota-“ Catra grimaced. “Yeah. It’s a plan.”

_Lord help her._

——

Adora did a quick once over of her room. She had had plenty of friends over, but now everything just looked wrong. Too simple. Too childish. She ripped down the horse poster on her door before moving to her desk. 

She adjusted her books once more, trying to find the perfect angle for them to look well used but not messy. She made sure everything was ‘perfectly’ out of place. Like she hadn’t spent the last hour since arriving home to make sure her room looked adequate for Catra’s arrival. 

Would it be weird if she changed? Would Catra think she was trying too hard? 

She groaned slightly before ripping off her t-shirt to put on a comfortable sweater. It was already October, so she could get away with wearing her favorite sweater. She pulled at it nervously, observing herself in the mirror. She tried to take a steadying breath, but it came out too stuttered. 

Should she put her hair down?

She pulled it out of its ponytail, taking a second to try and flatten her hair before groaning even louder and tying it back up. _No. Too much._

She made another attempt at calming herself down. She knew Catra was due to arrive any minute, and she didn’t want her nerves to show when she got there. She could hear her mother down in the kitchen, and she prayed to God that she wouldn’t embarrass her. 

Maybe she should go remind her to play it cool? _A third time couldn’t hurt._

She hurried down the stairs, seeing her mother humming softly to herself as she put away the dishes. 

“Mom?”

She paused to look at Adora. “Yes?” She asked. She looked Adora up and down before narrowing her eyes. “Why’d you change?”

“Uh…” Adora tugged at her sweater self consciously. “It was cold.”

Her mother peered at her suspiciously. “Huh.” She hummed. “Okay, well did you need something?”

“Just reminding you again to…be cool,” Adora awkwardly let out, moving her hands in a smoothing motion. 

Mara laughed. “I’ll have you know that I am _The Coolest_.” She continued to put away the dishes. “I’m a championship fencer for crying out loud. Chicks dig that-“

Adora winced. “Don’t say that to Catra.” She shuddered slightly. “I don’t want her to _‘dig’_ you, you’re my mother!” The thought alone was horrifying. She’d had enough friends throughout her childhood raving about how beautiful her mother was. 

Mara continued to laugh, shaking her head adoringly at Adora. “No, you want her to _‘dig’_ you,” She teased, air quotes and all. 

Adora flushed deeply. “I… well yeah, but can we please stop saying _‘dig’_ ,” She said in embarrassment. “No old people words!”

“Adora!” Mara gasped playfully. “I am _not_ old!”

“I didn’t say _you_ were old, I-“

They were interrupted by the doorbell. _Catra_. Adora stood frozen in her spot, anxiety building steadily in her chest. 

“Are you going to answer that or should I?”

“No!” Adora whipped around to jog toward the door. “Please don’t, I got it.”

She ignored her mother’s booming laughter, placing a shaking hand on the handle. Taking one more deep breath, she pulled it open to reveal an equally jumpy looking Catra. 

She too had changed, wearing a worn Paramore t-shirt and black jeans. She was sans her headphones for once, and her curly locks fell into her face slightly, causing Catra to let out a puff of air to attempt to blow it out of her eyes. She raised a brow at Adora, who was still staring stupidly at her guest. 

“Hello!” She said, internally wincing at how aggressively she said it. “Come on in?”

“Thank you?” Catra returned, noticing Adora’s unsure tone. 

She mentally scolded herself before she finally stepped aside to let Catra in. 

“You must be Catra,” Mara greeted from the kitchen’s entrance. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Adora sent her mother a withering glare only to be ignored completely as Mara approached the pair easily. 

“Oh,” Catra said, politely sticking out her hand in greeting. “You must be Adora’s mother. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Mara took her hand easily, looking the girl up and down with mild scrutiny. “The pleasure is all mine,” She expressed in a friendly tone. “Not Adora’s usual type… of friend,” She amended at Adora's violent gestures from behind Catra. 

She was going to murder her own mother. She was going to become an orphan, and- 

Catra chuckled easily. “She’s, strangely enough, weirdly in line with my usual friends,” She joked. “All two of them.”

Mara laughed in return. “Opposites attract?” She observed Catra for a moment before nodding. “I like you. You and Adora have fun tonight, okay?”

Catra nodded easily in response. “That’s the plan. I can’t wait to see her room,” She sent a teasing look toward Adora. “How many horse posters you got?”

“None!” Adora denied at the same time her mother said, “Five.”

Adora quickly ushered a cackling Catra up the stairs in front of her, sending one more glare toward her mother for good measure. She was so distracted -thinking about all the ways she could embarrass her mother the next time they saw Razz at the bakery- that she failed to notice Catra had stopped at the top of the stairs. She ran right into the back of Catra, knocking into her clumsily. 

“Jesus,” Catra grunted as Adora immediately backed up in horror. “You should join the football team or something,” She breathed out, turning to face Adora. She smoothed out clothes, wearing a lighthearted smile. “I’m so sorry!” Adora sputtered out. “I was distracted.”

Catra laughed it off, waving her hand easily. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Adora said softly, staring at Catra for a moment. 

“So… where’s your room?” Catra reminded her. 

“Right!” Adora face-palmed, but swiftly led Catra to where her room was. She threw open the door and held out her hand. “Ta-da,” She squeaked out lamely. 

Catra wandered in hesitantly, looking around in curiosity. Adora stood nervously by the door as her friend walked around, pausing every now and then to look closer at certain things. The books, her pictures, the stack of movies by her T.V. 

She hummed. “So,” She said, a smile tugging at her lips. “Did you hide the posters or is your mom a liar?”

“Piss off,” Adora let out, laughing loudly. She shut the door behind them. “They’re tucked away, hidden from judgement.” She rolled her eyes playfully at Catra who grinned back in amusement. 

“What’s the plan, Ms. Hostess?” Catra asked, placing herself on Adora’s bed. She shifted around to get comfortable, looking a bit on edge. 

_“Stop making your friend feel so awkward,” She mentally chastised._

“Uh…” Adora looked around clueless before landing on the movies. “We could watch a movie?”

“Depends.”

“Depends?” Adora question, quirking a brow at Catra. 

“How shitty is your movie collection?”

Adora huffed, sending Catra an offended look before moving toward her television with purpose. She easily picked out some of her favorite movies and dropped them unceremoniously onto the bed beside Catra. 

“Shitty collection,” Adora murmured in disbelief, causing Catra to let out a cute giggle. “You’re going to look at me and tell me this is anything less than a top tier movie collection?”

“You literally have _High School Musical_ in here,” Catra criticized. She picked it up to look at the cover. “You really have no room to claim such things.” 

Adora let out an affronted gasp. 

“Take that back!”

——-

They ended up watching _High School Musical_. 

Once Adora had found out Catra had never seen it, there really was no other choice in Adora’s mind. So there they sat, shoulder to shoulder on Adora’s bed, laying on their stomachs to watch what Adora considered a childhood right of passage. 

She did her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach every time Catra scoffed, causing her shoulder to brush against her own. 

“I honestly don’t understand how singing one song with that mop head was enough to solidify any sort of crush,” Catra complained. 

“You did not call Zac Efron a ‘mop head’!” Adora gawked, shaking her head. She nudged Catra gently, causing the other girl to look over unimpressed. “He’s a teenage heartthrob.”

“He’s blah,” Catra continued, still looking at Adora. Their faces were the closest they’d ever been, and Adora had to consciously keep herself from counting the freckles across Catra’s cheeks. “And his facial expressions creep me out.”

“No more Zac Efron slander!” Adora whined. She shoved Catra hard enough in the arm that the other girl’s elbows came out from under her, leaving Catra to flop adorably, face first, into Adora’s bed. 

She let out a cute humph, before turning her head to glare up at Adora. “Rude,” She grumbled. “He’s overrated is all I’m saying.” She crossed her arms in front of her, cushioning her head lazily into them. 

“Maybe you’re right about that one,” Adora shrugged. She looked back at the screen, ignoring the blush creeping up her neck. “I, uh, I’m more of a Gabriella girl anyway.”

She peeked nervously at Catra who had glanced back at the screen as Gabriella belted dramatically in the empty halls East High. Catra let out a little hum before turning back to Adora. 

“Me too.”

Adora stilled, staring straight forward. She went over Catra’s words once more. _Could that mean?_ She turned stiffly toward Catra, who was watching the screen critically, seemingly completely unbothered with what she had said. Adora could feel the nerves jumbling in her stomach and opened her mouth slowly. 

“What?” She squeaked out.

Catra faced Adora once more, looking up at the girl in confusion. “I am also a Vanessa Hudgens girl?” She informed, a hint of uncertainty dancing in her voice. “I mean, especially now. She’s unreal.” She gushed with a faraway look in her eye.

“For sure,” Adora confirmed, squirming a bit. “I agree, 100%, beautiful lady. She, uh, yeah.”

“Total girl crush material,” Catra opined. 

Adora stared back in confusion. “She’s one of my girl crushes too,” She went on. “But, like...in a gay way,” She revealed. 

Catra’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and if Adora was debating on jumping out her own window, that was her business. Adora wasn’t sure what kind of response she was expecting, but Catra simply humming and turning back to stare at the television was not it. She looked unphased. 

_Maybe she already knew?_

_Did that mean Catra wasn’t interested in women like that? Or just not into Vanessa Hudgens like that?_

“She’s definitely pretty,” Catra finally contributed, tilting her head in thought. “If we’re talking ‘in a gay way’, though, I’d nominate Anne Hathaway. Have you seen her in _Ocean’s 8_?”

Adora gaped slightly, still baffled by the response. Still confused about what it meant. 

“I’d marry Anne Hathaway in a heartbeat,” Catra continued, glancing at Adora. “In a gay way, since you seem so… unsure,” Catra reassured. Her face flushed heavily, and it took all of Adora’s willpower to not leap off the bed right then and there to break into a happy jig. 

“Nice,” She responded lamely instead. She winced. “Can I ask when you knew?” She tested gently. 

“Not sure,” Catra rolled over to face Adora completely, then fully ignoring the movie. “It just was there. I didn’t really think too hard about it until...well, I guess Lonnie?”

“Lonnie?” Adora implored, feeling stupidly jealous. 

“Yeah,” Catra mumbled. “I think I had a crush on her in sixth grade.”

“You think?”

“I don’t know,” Catra admitted. “Things like that are hard for me to sort… so I usually ignore them.”

Adora turned to face her more as well, mirroring Catra’s position. Both laid on their side, propping their heads up by their elbows. “That… is interesting.”

Catra grimaced slightly before gasping softly, an idea swirling in her eyes. She reached over to slap Adora on the shoulder gently. “What about you? How do you know when you have a crush?”

“Uh,” Adora spluttered. “What?”

“How do you feel?” Catra challenged. “Like, explain it, and maybe then I’ll get a good idea of what to look out for.”

“It’s hard to explain,” Adora gulped. At Catra’s falling face, Adora quickly continued. “But I can try?”

Catra lit up at that, and Adora wondered if that’d be worth the embarrassment she was about to endure. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Adora reassured. She paused, Catra stared back in poorly concealed eagerness. “It’s, well, it depends on the kind of crush,” She started. 

“Yeah?” Catra egged on. 

“Sometimes you just feel anxious, and you blush a lot, and you get a bunch of little butterflies in your stomach,” Adora offered, her voice growing soft. “And sometimes, sometimes you just feel this pull? Like you always want to be around them because it just feels right. They make you feel warm, and you think about them all the time. You just want to talk to them, you know? You want to know about their day, their favorite colors, what kind of music they listen to. They still make you nervous, but in this nice, addicting kind of way.”

“Right,” Catra encouraged, her face slowly morphing into a more thoughtful expression. 

“You want to be close to them,” She breathed out. She wanted to close some of the distance between, but refrained. The space between them mocked her.

Her gazed danced between Catra’s eyes, marveling for a moment at how beautiful they were. She felt a warmth at how attentive Catra was being, hanging onto Adora’s every word as if she was mentally taking notes. Suddenly, the thought occurred to Adora. What if Catra was filing this away for someone else? Preparing to use it in some future setting with some future person who wasn’t her? Her chest tightened, but she went on. “You want to kiss them,” Her voice cracked slightly.

Catra nodded while Adora’s gaze flickered down to her lips. “Sure,” Catra whispered. She sounded so far away. “Anything else?”

“Hold their hand,” Adora flexed her hand slightly, drawing her gaze to the way Catra’s hand did the same. _Jesus._ “I don’t know… just touch.”

Something passed over Catra’s face, there a moment and gone the next. She promptly turned onto her back, breaking whatever cloud Adora’s head had been in. She sat up stiffly, staring at the television screen, so Adora followed suit. 

She suddenly felt mortified. Like she exposed herself, and Catra was aware of her embarrassing crush. She cursed herself for her lack of subtlety. She wanted to slam her head into a wall, she wanted to go back in time and redo the whole conversation over. 

_God, what am I doing?!_

“We missed the movie,” Catra pointed out. Her voice was small, unsure, and she looked as if she was thinking about a whole lot more than High School Musical. 

“We did,” Adora remarked, the credit rolling in front of them. She herself felt small. “In my defense, you were the one who asked,” She jested weakly, cringing. There was a heat behind her eyes, and she would actually pass away from embarrassment if she started to cry right then. 

“Touche,” Abruptly, Catra’s hand fell on top of Adora’s. Adora looked at it in shock before looking up at her friend. Catra wore a placating smile, rubbed Adora’s hand before pulling away. “Sorry I distracted you from your childhood favorite. You’re a good friend.”

Adora scrunched up her face in bafflement. “Uh, it’s fine,” She replied. “Anytime?”

“Cool,” Catra stood up, walking away to peer at the stack of movies. “I’m kind clueless to those types of things, so I’ll probably have a lot of dumb questions to ask.”

“What about Scorpia?” Adora found herself asking. 

Catra picked up a movie before looking back at her. “Your answer provided a lot more clarity,” She shuffled awkwardly on her feet, but still gave Adora an easygoing grin. “Don’t tell her that, though.” 

“Oh,” Adora breathed out. 

“Now,” Catra pressed on, walking back toward the bed and holding up a DVD case. “I am officially rescinding my statement about your shit collection because you own _13 going on 30_.”

Adora felt a smile slip onto her face. “That I do,” She began. “Put that sucker in,” She advised. 

Catra bounced on her feet as she went to the disc player. Adora watched longingly, feeling reassured about their friendship, but still unsure of anything further than that. But, as Catra practically skipped back to the bed, flopping onto it with a new sense of comfort, Adora decided she was content.

_Even if this was the only way she could have Catra, it would be enough._

\---------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Progress anyone? I actually had to start this chapter over like four times and each section over a few times too. So, I hope it turned out okay. 
> 
> Now, an important question (one I think I already know the answer to): Suit Catra or Dress Catra for the dance?  
> (Same Q for Adora?)


	6. It's Nice to Have a Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Scorpia talk, and Seahawks gives some advice to a worried Adora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive any typos, it's late and this chapter was a struggle, lol...

There were things in life that, for Catra at the very least, hit hard and suddenly. Things she’d look back on and couldn’t help but think, “ _How did I miss that one?”_

It was like years back when she’d had a blatant crush on Lonnie. Her incessant need to have her attention. To have her think Catra was as cool as Catra thought she was. Casually buying an extra candy bar at the vending machine and giving it to Lonnie in class -claiming the vending machine had given her an extra of Lonnie’s _exact_ favorite chocolate bar. The absolute devastation when Lonnie expressed her crush on the cute boy in their science class. 

So, Catra unknowingly got bitter and distant, and, _perhaps_ , made one too many snide remarks about the boy. Lonnie had told Catra she was a bad friend because she hadn’t supported the crush. It took Catra a whole year later to realize that she hadn’t been trying to be protective or simply thought her friend deserved better. No, she had been _jealous_. 

It was like when Catra realized her parents weren’t happy in their marriage. The constant fights, the separate bedrooms, the whispers when they thought she was out of hearing range. When they had announced the divorce, she’d thought it’d come out of nowhere. Until her freshman year and all the memories had come back in full force in the middle of an English lecture, and she realized the signs were embarrassingly apparent. 

But that was Catra’s M.O., she thought bitterly. Missing the apparent. Missing the obvious. 

_Everyone was right, she_ was _oblivious!_

“Wildcat!”

Catra twisted her head, smooshing the side of her face into her pillow to see a breathless Scorpia at her bedroom door. She slowly pulled off her headphones as Scorpia came barreling toward her. 

“He-”

“Are you okay?” Scorpia panted out, grabbing Catra by the shoulders to inspect her closely. “Are you hurt? What’s going on?!” The larger girl twisted Catra back and forth, checking for God knows what. 

“I-” Catra scrunched up her face before shoving her friend off of her. “What? I’m fine, get off, dude!” She huffed slightly, crossing her arms in annoyance. 

Scorpio backed up, not as much as Catra would have preferred, but whatever. “You texted me ‘S.O.S’?” She tilted her head in confusion.

Catra mentally slapped herself. “Right,” She cleared her throat. She fingered the chord of her headphones nervously, trying to figure out the right way to broach the subject. _How would Scorpia react?_ “Have you ever heard the song ‘It’s Nice to Have a Friend’ by Taylor Swift?”

Scorpia paused. “What?”

It hung in the air awkwardly as Catra shifted uncomfortably. 

“Or, uh, ‘Friends’ by Ed Sheeren?” She continued, nerves bubbling in her chest. "It’s pop stuff I usually don’t like, but I mean, Taylor and Ed are-”

“You texted me an S.O.S to talk about music?” Scorpia asked incredulously. Her face morphed into a pout. “I ended a date early with Perfuma for this. Aren’t you supposed to be at Adora’s anyway?”

Catra’s face dropped, and she could feel the jitters running through her body. “Ugh, no, you’re right. You’re totally right, I shouldn’t have- God, I don’t know why I texted. You should call Perfuma, continue your date! It’s a Friday so you should be enjoying it with your-”

“Catra!” Scorpia interrupted. She eyed her friend, scrutinized her face for a moment. It left Catra to let out stuttered breaths into the silence. “What’s going on? Seriously. You have that look on your face.”

Catra frowned. “What look?”

“The one where you're so freaked you’re bound to do something you’ll regret,” Scorpia ventured. “You’re… spiraling.” She winced slightly. 

“I...may be doing that,” Catra mumbled, looking away. She took a deep breath. “Yeah, I need to tell you something.”

“I’m here,” Scorpia comforted. She placed a delicate hand on Catra’s shoulder, waiting patiently and openly. 

“You - “ Catra groaned in frustration, feeling it bubble in her chest hotly. “Was anyone going to tell me I had a crush on Adora?!”

Scorpia’s mouth dropped in shock, she stared wide eyed at Catra. Her hand slowly fell from her shoulder, an unreadable look took over her features. She opened her mouth, once, twice, like she was about to say something, yet she stayed silent. Much to Catra’s chagrin. 

“Or were you all just going to keep letting me look like an idiot!” Catra snapped. “I- You all knew the whole time! That’s why you guys always had those looks, and were always whispering, and you were all probably talking about how dense I am - because I am! And I bet all of you were laughing-”

“WIldcat!” Scorpia gasped. An expression of hurt appeared, furrowed brows and wide eyes with a trembling lip. She held her hand to her chest. “What are you talking about? We would never make fun of you. I don’t… I don’t think anyone even knows. How could you say that?”

“But you knew?”

“I had my suspicions.”

“And you didn't tell me,” Catra accused. 

Scorpia stared blankly at her friend. “ _I_ didn’t tell you that _you_ had a crush,” She expressed dully. She let that one sink in for a moment, Catra immediately flushed at how ridiculous she realized she was sounding. “I wanted you to come to your own conclusions. I wasn’t going to tell you how you felt. And I _tried_ to broach the subject subtly, but you didn’t catch on.”

Catra shook her head in embarrassment. “I...I’m sorry,” She apologized lamely. 

“It’s fine,” Scorpia shrugged. “I know you’re just freaking out about the revelation. But… in the future you really shouldn’t take your own feelings out on other people like that,” 

“You’re right,” Catra said shamefully. “I shouldn’t have done that. I know you’d never do anything to hurt me like that...I’m just - I’ll work on it. You didn’t deserve that, I’m sorry.” 

_“There I went again, letting my insecurities run her mouth,”_ She thought.

Scorpia nodded, still looking a little hurt. “Do you want to talk about it?” She offered. 

Catra looked away once more, picking at her nails anxiously. “Do you think she knows? Adora?”

A smile crept onto Scorpia’s face. “Doubtful. You know, she seems to be just as oblivious as you sometimes,” She laughed. “Would it be the worst thing if she did, though?”

“Yes!” Catra responded, throwing her hands up. “That would be mortifying! The idea of an unrequited crush is already awful, but having that crush _know_ about it? No way.”

“You think-” Scorpia gave another baffled look. She chuckled lightly, shaking her head playful at Catra. “Look, I’m proud of you for coming into realization about your own feelings. So, let’s just figure out the next step...” She trailed off. 

Catra shifted uneasily. “I want to run.”

“I know.”

“I want to jump ship, run away to a new country,” Catra continued, laughing humorlessly to herself. “I want to never talk to Adora again and hope these stupid feelings go away forever...but I’d never want to hurt Adora.” She shook her head firmly. 

“Look at the growth!” Scorpia cheered. “I know crushes can be stressful, especially unrequited ones, trust me, I know,” She gave Catra pointed look, though a hint of playfulness danced in her tone.

“Yeah,” Catra winced, thinking back.

“And, you don’t have to do anything about it if you’re not comfortable, but you should consider broaching the subject with Adora whenever you feel ready. Who knows? Maybe it’ll all turn out okay!”

Catra looked up thoughtfully. “I don’t know,” She pondered. “I wouldn’t want to ruin what we have going. It’s so good right now. And it’s not like I even know what I want. I don’t even know what I’d do. I’m not sure I’d want to be in a relationship or anything like that... _If_ She ever even liked me back.”

Scorpia shrugged. “Then you don’t have to do anything.” She placed her hand back to Catra’s shoulder. “But if you ever _do_ want anything like that, you’re gonna have to put yourself out there. And it’s going to be scary. With love, you have to be brave-”

“Woah!” Catra squeaked, moving away from her friend swiftly. “Who said anything about love!?” She pointed an accusatory finger toward her. 

“Right,” Scorpia giggled, waving her hand dismissively. “Same thing, _feelings_. Either way, you've got to be brave. If you don’t put yourself out there, you’ll never get anywhere with anything.”

Catra hummed. “I suppose that’s true,” She peered pensively at the girl. “But I don’t think I’m ready.”

“Only do what you're comfortable with,” Scorpia affirmed once again. “Maybe now that you’re aware of the feelings, it’ll be easier for you to navigate them. Just be careful.”

“Right,” Catra confirmed confidently. 

“Great!” Scorpia clapped happily. “Take it slow, figure out what exactly it is that you're feeling, and move from there.”

Catra took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

Scorpia pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m super proud of you, Wildcat.”

“Thanks,” Catra replied half heartedly. She picked at her bed sheets. 

“Hey,” Scorpia pulled away, smiling brightly. “You wanna have a sleepover? Will your mom mind?”

“She’s out of town anyway,” " _Like usual_ ," She thought bitterly. “So, yeah.”

“We can talk more about Adora?” Scorpia offered with a shit eating grin. 

“Like what?” Catra asked suspiciously. 

“Well, what do you like about her?”

Catra grinned, a stupid love-struck thing that she would’ve felt embarrassed about with any other human being. She felt a flush climb up her cheeks before turning to Scorpia. “Well,” She started, feeling a little goofy. “You know how when she laughs she sometimes lets out this cute little snort-”

\-------

  
  
  


_Catra. Catra. Catra._

That was all Adora could think about over the weekend. Her off reaction. Her question to begin with. Her interest in girls. 

_Catra._

Did that mean Adora had a chance? Was she dropping hints? Was Adora too obvious and now Catra was freaked out? Is that why she left right after the movie? Was she uncomfortable?

_Cat-_

“Hey, Adora.”

She looked up quickly, startled out of her thoughts to see a smiling Catra looking down at her. She moved to take her seat as Adora stared at her stupidly. She felt frozen. Like any move she made would be too awkward or too obvious.

She cleared her throat and smiled. 

“Hey, you,” _SHIT._ Did that come out flirty? Was that weird, what-

“I got this for you,” Catra had a small blush across her cheeks. It was adorable, almost as adorable as the shy look she was sporting. 

Adora looked down to see Catra handing her a cookie. Her favorite kind, nonetheless. “Chocolate chip?” She grinned. “Yes! My favorite.” She snatched it out of her friend’s hand quickly, smiling to herself all the while. 

At least she could cross off Catra hating her of her list of worries. 

“I know, “ Catra said bashfully. She scratched her neck for a moment nervously. “I had an extra, so I figured you’d like it.”

“That’s so nice,” Adora said with a mouthful of cookie. She glanced at Catra in confusion. “Where’s yours?”

“Oh,” Catra coughed into her fist awkwardly. “I… ate it one the way here?”

“Okay…” 

Why was Catra acting so strange? 

“So, The Great Gatsby, huh?” Catra continued loudly, pulling out her supplies. “That’s… a book, and stuff, right?”

Adora raised an eyebrow at the girl’s off behavior. _Jesus, maybe I had freaked her out._ “It’s… a book, yeah?” Adora unsurely replied. “Metaphors...rich people… cars…”

“Do you think Seahawk is more of a Daisy or Gatsby?” Catra smirked softly as she flipped open her notebook. “I would kill to see him reenact either part.”

Adora giggled easily, shifting Catra’s notebook toward herself. “Seahawk makes any book interesting,” She shrugged. “This one is ten times better than Romeo and Juliet, at least.” She drew a crude heart along the paper. 

“Eh,” Catra shrugged, taking Adora’s notebook as well. “They both have their merits.” Adora subtly watched her draw a little sun on the page.. 

“No,” Adora gasped, a dramatic hand to her heart. “Don’t tell me Catra is a romantic?”

“Oh fuck off!” Catra sniped, lacking any bite, causing Adora to giggle. “It’s _Shakespeare_ , okay? We’re reading it for a reason.”

Adora paused, watching Catra draw for a moment before letting out a little snort. “I get being infatuated the moment you see someone… like, relatable. But falling in love?” Adora chuckled to herself. She thought back to the moment she first saw Catra.

_She was walking down the hallway after having gotten out early from her class, minding her business when she saw the other girl traipsing down the cramped hallways of their middle school. Catra with her apathetic attitude and bulky headphones over her ears, mouthing along to whatever she was listening to. She wore a ratty Paramore tee, and Adora wanted to say something. Anything. Instead, she stared for a moment as she walked along the lockers. She was so pretty, she had thought before being rudely interrupted by a classroom door as the lunch bell rang. It swung quickly and harshly right into her face, the student letting out a half assed apology before rushing off to the lunch room. She rubbed her cheek bitterly. By the time she had looked back up, Catra was gone._

_It was hard to forget her though. Bouncing curls, careless strut, and freckles dotting her cheeks._

“Everyone says it’s about two idiot kids who kill themselves after knowing each other for, what, a few days?” Catra interrupted Adora’s musings. “Sometimes I think it’s about hate stomping out love.”

Adora quirked an eyebrow. “Maybe,” She said. She watched the girl for a moment. “Maybe that’s them winning over hate in a way? Their death is them escaping a shitty world. Escaping their separate fates so they can finally be together. Even if it’s in death.”

“Bleh,” Catra fake gagged. She pointed a mocking finger to her mouth and stuck out her tongue. “Now who's the romantic?”

Casta walked in quickly after, starting the class. Adora couldn’t help but mull over what their relationship meant. The whole thing was too normal, laced with _something_. Something she couldn’t place, but there was a difference in it all. Maybe it was the bond of knowing another gay person? Having their shared identity. Maybe it was the information allowing them to be even closer after sharing something personal with each other.

_Maybe._

“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” Catra bowed theatrically, startling Adora slightly once the bell had rung. Her stuff was already packed up, backpack on her shoulders, and a grin dancing on her lips. 

Adora glanced up, giggling softly. “Thou I shall say goodnight until… lunch..?”

Catra smirked and bowed once more before meandering out of the room, leaving Adora to stare after her. 

“Oh, you two.”

Adora practically jumped out of her seat, whipping her head around to find Seahawk standing beside her with a large grin. He leaned against her desk with one hand, his pencil in his other as he playfully gestured between Adora and the door. 

“What the hell!” She yelped, placing a hand to her chest. “How long have you been standing there?!” She swatted halfheartedly at the pencil he pointed toward her. 

Seahawk sat himself on the desk beside her, blatantly ignoring her question. _Typical_. “I assume you will be asking your lover to the dance? May I help? I have this wonderful idea-“

“What?” Adora stood, glaring at the man. “What are you talking about? No, _no_ Catra and I are just friends. I mean, _good_ friends, sure, and I certainly wouldn’t be _opposed_ to going to the dance with her, but we’re just friends. Pals. Gal pals-“

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Seahawk replied cheekily, earning another glare from Adora. “I think we all see where this one is going, Romeo.”

“I don’t even know if she likes me back!” Adora shouted. She shrunk immediately when realizing she just admitted to Seahawk, a well known _terrible_ secret keeper, about her crush. _Well, shit._ “I mean-“

“Worry not!” He straightened, puffing his chest out in a ridiculous manner. “I can spot another fellow -fella? Soldier! _Soldier_ , from a mile away who is aching for the sole attention of a lady. Trust me, I know,” He held his hand to his chest in defeat. 

Adora was confused. She thought Mermista and Seahawk were a thing; although, she guessed they had never quite confirmed whether or not they were _actually_ dating. And Mermista was… hard to read. Perhaps Adora and Seahawk had more in common than she thought. 

“Uh, sorry?” She offered, wincing slightly. 

“Either way,” He continued, resuming his overzealous attitude as he stood. “Care for some parting advice?”

“Sure?” Adora scrunched her brow. 

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt,” He raised a brow, waiting for Adora’s response. When receiving nothing more than a confused head tilt, he tapped her notebook with his pointer finger in an uneven beat. “Shakespeare,” He expounded. He tapped her page once more before departing with a goofy thumbs up. 

Adora looked down cluelessly, staring at her notebook. 

Across the page was Catra’s silly doodles. Cats, tic-tac-toe games, and...hearts. Adora traced her fingers across the page absentmindedly, taking in Seahawks words. 

_I think we all see where this one is going._

Did everyone know about her crush? Did everyone think Catra could possibly like her back?

“Adora?”

Adora’s internal monologue was once again interrupted by a curious Casta standing at the front of the classroom. 

“You’re going to be late to your next class.”

“Shoot!”

Adora quickly packed up her belongings before checking her watch. _Crap._ As she headed toward the door, Casta stopped her once more. 

“It’s none of my business,” She started, looking at Adora wearily. “But… Though the context was a little off… the lady _doth_ protest too much…”

Adora froze, staring blankly up at her teacher and family friend. _Curse Seahawk and his loud ass voice._ She coughed awkwardly. 

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about,” Adora denied in a shaky voice. 

Casta rolled her eyes, shooing Adora out the door. “I love a good Shakespeare,” She called after her. “Don’t fear an attempt!”

Adora twisted on her feet to look back at her teacher who was grinning widely at her. Adora shook her head before rushing off to her next class. Her mind all the while on the doodles in her book and the cookie wrapper in her pocket. 

_Maybe they had a point._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! When I tell you a struggled with this one... Sorry the update took longer than usual, I was pretty busy and blanking hard on how to write this. I did however, love writing Seahawk, lol, he is one of my favorites to write dialogue for. 
> 
> The dance wasn't in this chapter, but I'm thinking the next. I've got mixed reviews on outfits. I was leaning toward suit Adora and dress Catra... but we'll see!
> 
> Thank you again for the support! 5k?! That's so awesome, and I love reading all of your nice comments and thoughts on the chapters.


	7. Fall Ball, Pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dance time! Part 1!  
> This chapter includes... A weird amount of references, Lots of internal monologues, Glimmer and Catra bonding, and, of course, ships:)

“Are you going to be this fidgety all night?”

Catra looked to her left to see a glaring, equally as tense Glimmer. The other girl was sitting a few spaces over in the back of their limo, wearing a pale purple, strapless dress with a slit at the thigh. Her hair was swept back in an almost regal sort of way that made Catra feel like she should be wearing a crown of some sort. 

_Maybe a cape?_

Either way, it made her own hands shoot up to her own hair to make sure it was in place. She had actually taken the time to style it, after all. 

They were on their way to pick up the rest of their group, only five of them so far. Entrapta was holed up in one of the corners, taping tirelessly on her tablet. She wore a cute grey jumpsuit; though, not forgoing her usual purple pigtails. That night she had put a cute little flower behind her ear. 

Scorpia and Perfuma were fawning over each other on the other side, and Catra could almost laugh at how contrasting their outfits were. Scorpia with her sleek black dress, slicked back white hair, looking like she was straight out of a spy film, and Perfuma looking… wispy? 

A flowing pale green dress, flower patterns on the sheer layer of the skirt, and an actual flower crown on her perfectly straightened hair. 

Catra scrunched up her face, tugging at the collar of her dress shirt. _Wispy? No… Bohemian? No...hippie-_

“Seriously!” Glimmer groaned, smacking her forehead. Her own leg bounced up and down as she scolded Catra. ”You’re acting all weird.” She pointed an accusing finger toward Catra. 

“What?” Catra let out flimsily. Like she could deny the nerves racing through her. 

Glimmer narrowed her eyes, taking in Catra for a moment before scoffing. “You’re seriously worried? You look great in everything- which is, _frankly_ , annoying! So, stop fiddling around and acting like your suit is a freakin’ straitjacket,” She smacked Catra on the arm, practically shouting. There was way too much aggression in her tone for Catra to take that as anything remotely close to a compliment. 

Catra frowned in confusion. “You’re one to talk,” She retorted. _Was that supposed to be comforting in any way?_ She pointed accusingly at the way Glimmer anxiously rubbed her thighs “Mrs. ...Sweaty Palms! What? Worried someone won’t have eyes and notice how hot you look?” She silently rejoiced at the way Glimmer’s face turned beet red in annoyance -It was comforting to have their... _dynamic_ in place with how, o _ut_ of place she felt in her stupid suit and Perfuma’s fancy limo. 

“My hands are not sweaty!” Glimmer threw her palms up as if to show no such thing was true. She pushed her palms closer to Catra, practically shoving them in her face as the latter swatted them away. “I am perfectly chill! I’m the one who has to wear this tight ass dress while you chill out in your fancy suit.”

Catra looked down at her ensemble. A black suit with a nice maroon button down she had bought earlier in the week. It felt like it fit too tight and the suit was stuffy, but she would much rather the suit than some constricting dress. She tugged at her tie absentmindedly as Glimmer went to adjust her hair for what felt like the fiftieth time. 

“And you’re the one going to mess up your stupid hair, Sparkles,” Catra jested, reaching up to grab at Glimmer’s hands. “You look fine. I don’t know what’s got you in such a hissy.” _She’s the one who actually had a reason to be nervous! Adora’s house was coming up!_

“Well,” Glimmer huffed, although relenting on her hair. She pointed angrily at Catra again. “Pot, kettle.”

“This is one of the weirdest arguments you guys have had,” Scorpia said, finally tuning in to the other limo passengers. “And you guys argued about forks, like, yesterday.” 

“It’s true,” Entrapta chimed in. “But there I do have to agree that a medium sized fork is the best for pasta-“

“You have to use a bigger fork to properly twirl up all the spaghetti,” Catra huffed. 

“Big forks have no place with any type of food,” Glimmer protested heatedly. “They’re is no reason they should be that big. It’s awkward in your mouth…”

“Do you stick the entirety of the fork in your mouth-“

Perfuma giggled. “You both look like you could use a nice cup of calming tea-“ 

“I am calm!” Glimmer and Catra shouted at the same time before glancing at each other in mutual embarrassment. They both slumped petulantly into their seats. 

Scorpia and Perfuma stared silently at the two, exchanging worried looks. 

“If this is about Bow-“

“It’s not!” Glimmer rejected with a flushed face. Her leg started it’s erratic beat again. 

Catra raised an eyebrow. _Now that’s some new information._

“You both look wonderful,” Perfuma complimented brightly. “If _either_ of you are nervous about impressing _someone_ , worry no more! They’d have to be blind to not notice how radiant you each look.”

Catra shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not trying to impress anyone,” She denied snippily. She took a calming breath at Pefuma’s startled look. “But… thanks anyway?” She tried stiffly. 

“Uh, yeah,” Glimmer coughed awkwardly, glancing at Catra in equal discomfort. “Thanks, ‘Fuma.”

“No problem,” She smiled politely before turning to tell Scorpia for the hundredth time how beautiful she looked. 

Catra and Glimmer sat in moping silence for a moment as the limo pulled up to Mermista’s house. 

“Tie your dumb tie,” Glimmer grumbled after awhile. 

Catra flushed slightly, shrinking down.“I don’t know how.” She expected another onslaught of insults but relaxed when none came. 

Glimmer left out a small sigh before motioning Catra to come closer. Catra furrowed her brow in suspicion before she closed the space and begrudgingly allowed Glimmer to take her tie in her hands. 

Catra observed the girl for a moment. “If you really are nervous about Croptop,” She started softly. “I’m pretty sure you’re like his favorite person ever. I wouldn’t worry about him not falling on his face over anything you do. Especially tonight. You, uh, really do look very nice.”

Glimmer cleared her throat awkwardly before meeting Catra’s eyes, softening significantly compared to a few moments before. “Well, back at you,” She mumbled, finishing up Catra’s tie. _God! It was so weird_ . “A certain _somebody_ will probably die on the spot once she sees you,” Glimmer laughed quietly to herself. 

Catra wanted to die on the spot herself at another implication, like everyone knew she was desperately into Adora. But something about one of Adora’s best friends implying that Adora would think Catra looked nice overtook the embarrassment. 

She was about to reply when a jovial Seahawk flopped down into the car next to Perfuma. He wore a light blue suit, cumberbun and all with a matching bandana still styled with his surprisingly well combed hair. Catra and Glimmer raised teasing eyebrows at each other when Mermista slid in after. In a _matching_ dress. 

“Oh! Did you two get ready together?” Scorpia asked innocently. 

“How cute,” Perfuma cooed. 

“Precious, really,” Catra smirked. 

“Ugh,” Mermista groaned, practically daring Catra to say anything else with a glare. “We live next to each other. It was convenient for you guys to pick us up together, whatever.”

“You’re matching,” Glimmer pointed out, her own smirk growing. 

Seahawk was being uncharacteristically quiet, glancing at Mermista for guidance. 

“And you look like you’re two seconds away from smooching your ‘worst enemy’,” Mermista shot back. “Let’s all mind our business.”

Despite the lack of bite behind it, Glimmer’s hand immediately shot away from Catra’s neck. The two flushed slightly before moving to create more space. It was then Catra noticed how little space was left. 

“Uh,” She let out as the limo headed toward their final destination where Bow and Adora had gotten ready together. Catra had recently found out they were next door neighbors. “We really didn’t take into account how many of us there were going to be.”

Everyone looked around the limo. There was one more seat left. Catra watched as the group did the math in their head. 

“Oh, fudge!” Perfuma cursed, throwing her head in her hands. “I thought for sure this would be big enough.”

“Oh dear, indeed,” Seahawk threw his arm around Mermista. “Looks like some of us are going to have to get a little closer than planned!”

“Do you mind?” Mermista grumbled at him, but didn’t remove his arm. 

“I’m sure we’ll all fit,” Scorpia shrugged. “Bow and Adora aren’t that big. We’ll all just have to squish a bit. It’s no big deal,” She placed a comforting hand on a crestfallenPefuma’s shoulder, the latter gripped it tightly. 

“As long as no one sits too close to me,” Entrapta shrugged, barely looking up. “We’ll all be fine as long as our driver doesn’t crash.”

The group winced slightly as they pulled up to Adora’s. Catra glanced out the window as the door opened, turning to nudge Glimmer playfully as Bow stepped out in a nice purple suit with a cropped white dress shirt - Catra really should’ve guessed. 

She was about to mock Glimmer’s moony eyed look before the other girl practically gave Catra whiplash by directing her gaze back to the window with her hand under Catra’s chin. And- 

_Jesus fuck._

Adora exited wearing a flowing white gown, looking like a goddamn princess. Catra swore she stopped breathing. The dress came down to her ankles, cinched at the waist, and - _Lord_ have mercy on Catra’s poor gay heart, was _sleeveless_ . As if Catra needed anymore confirmation that, _yeah_ , Adora worked out. 

If she hadn’t already fairly certain she had a crush on the stunning blonde, her confirmation was right in front of her. Walking down the driveway like something out of a godforsaken romcom. Was this the part where she broke into song about how beautiful she looked? 

_Was she having a stroke-_

“Play it cool, dumbass,” Glimmer punched her shoulder, knocking her out of her stupor. 

She dragged her eyes away from Adora. “You’re one to talk-“

“ _Please_ , not this again,” Perfuma begged, clasping her hands together. 

“You guys are like dumb and dumber, but ten times more aggressive,” Mermista threw out as the door opened. 

“Who’s aggressive?” Adora asked innocently. 

She glanced over at Catra, her face lighting up in a way that _totally_ didn’t have Catra sweating in her suit. _Nope._

Her eyes took in Catra for a moment, looking up and down with the prettiest pink on her cheeks. 

It made Catra squirm. 

“I’ll give you three guesses, and the first two don’t count,” Mermista drawled. 

Adora flopped down next to Catra with a grin, practically bouncing in her seat with excitement. Catra smiled back easily, trying to steady herself. She wanted to thank whatever God there was that Adora had left her hair down because, _wow,_ it looked so soft. She was half tempted to reach out and touch it. 

“You two again,” Adora scolded playfully, glancing at Glimmer from behind Catra. “What is it this time?”

“Crushes-“

“Uh, guys?” Bow interrupted. Catra figured Perfuma should be grateful for the interruption because she was just about ready to knock her hippie ass out if she had continued. “Where am I supposed to sit?” He bent awkwardly in the doorway, glancing around the packed limo. 

Catra didn’t miss the way his eyes softened drastically when they landed on Glimmer. 

Maybe she would have roasted him if she could say she didn’t look at least twice as stupid watching Adora come down the driveway. 

“Oh!” Catra smirked. She ignored Adora’s soft ‘ _oof_ ’ as she practically shoved the blonde into the side of the limo with her shoulder. “You can sit right here, buddy,” She patted the minimal space between her and Glimmer, sending a jesting look at the shorter girl. 

If looks could kill. 

“Thanks, buddy,” Bow returned, none the wiser. He quickly squeezed between the girls, and Catra was so busy laughing at Glimmer’s flushed face she nearly forgot she was now trapping Adora between her and the window. 

Glimmer flipped Catra off after gesturing to remind Catra of the predicament she had put them both in. 

Catra slowly turned her head toward Adora. Adora who looked incredibly confused and incredibly flushed. She smiled hesitantly at Catra. 

“You look beautiful, by the way,” The girl whispered from her very uncomfortable position. “This is...nice,” Her fingers danced along the lapel of Catra’s suit. 

Catra quickly shifted to let her get a little more comfortable, and partially in effort to hide her flushing face. 

She cleared her throat. “Thank you,” She mumbled, glancing back at Adora. “You… also look beautiful. You’re hair…nice.”

Catra wanted to punch herself at how stilted it came out. 

Adora giggled anyway. “Thank you,” she returned. “I like yours too,” She tried to move her arm, but Catra noticed she had trapped it under her own in order to make room for Bow. 

“Oops,” She chuckled, pulling her arm out. She dangled it awkwardly in the air for a moment before deciding it would be more comfortable for the both of them if she placed it on the seat behind Adora’s head. 

_That was normal right? Casual. It was just to make them both more comfortable._

Adora ducked her head before moving her own arm closer to herself, placing her hands on her laps. 

_Stupid!_ Catra mentally groaned. _Why didn’t she just do that? Now she looked - Would it be weird if she moved her arm now?_

“It’s time to party!” Scorpia cheered loudly, breaking Catra out of her mental descent. “The Super Bestfriend Squad’s first dance together.”

“Please tell me nobody actually calls us that,” Mermista slumped down in her seat and further in Seahawks side. 

“It’s cute,” Perfuma laughed. 

“It sounds like we’re a group of crime fighting children on Disney Jr.,” Catra joked, reveling in the way Adora snorted beside her. 

“But we’re super, bestfriends, and a squad!” Scorpia pouted. And _yeah_ maybe Catra felt a little bad for making fun of it. 

“All true things,” Bow agreed easily, sending a kind smile toward Scorpia. 

“I thought we were the GSA,” Glimmer quipped, raising an eyebrow. 

“What?” Catra questioned, confused by the laughs that came from everyone. _What’d she miss?_

“Again. We’d need a straight for that,” Adora hummed. The group all murmured in agreement. 

“We’ll either way, for the night we are all Princesses!” Perfuma giggled. “Oh, and princes!” She gestured bashfully to Seahawk and Bow.

“I have no qualms for being a Princess,” Seahawk announced. “Tonight, we are… The Princess Alliance!”

“Wait a minute!” Catra interjected. “I do _not_ want to be a princess,” She scrunched up her nose in distaste. 

“Aw, why not, Wildcat?” 

“Because that’s lame!” Catra replied. “I wouldn’t want to be a Princess… I’d be like a captain in the military or something.”

“ _Okay_ ,” Bow drew out as the limo pulled up to the school. “We’ll be the Princess Alliance, _plus_ Captain Catra?”

“Oh, c’mon, Catra,” Adora whined out, nudging Catra’s shoulder playfully. “Join the alliance, we need you.” She quirked her head cutely, pouting in _such_ an unfair way at Catra. 

“Over my dead body, Princess,” Catra teased softly, nudging her right back as their group filed out of the limo. She let Adora go first, following after. 

Catra exited easily, taking in the sight before her. She stood still for a moment. The school had colored lights at the entrance, lighting up the giant banner that said “End of Fall Ball”. She could hear the music and cheering from outside, and she wondered how much of a headache she’d have by the end of the night. 

_Why’d she think this was a good idea again?_

“You coming?”

Catra looked over to see Adora standing just a bit in front of her with a hand held out. The rest of the group was a bit ahead, looking back, waiting patiently for the two. 

It was a solid reminder as to why she had agreed to going tonight at all. She had her friends. And most importantly, she had Adora. 

Sort of. 

She gingerly took her friend’s hand, hiding her blush at the pleasant weight of Adora’s hand in her own. Adora easily intertwined their fingers, pulling her to catch up with the group. 

“I think tonight’s going to be a good one,” Adora said as they all entered the school. 

Catra looked up slightly, taking in Adora’s achingly sweet smile, her makeup, her hair, the way her eyes met on her own. 

Catra couldn’t not smile if she tried. 

“I think you’re right.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn’t super into this chapter, which was why it took so long. Sorry if it’s not the best, but it was hard for some reason 
> 
> Thank you for the support, it’s been super helpful for inspiration! 
> 
> Also... super side note: Any of ya’ll watching Owl House👀


	8. Fall Ball Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second part to the dance.

Adora was  _ nervous.  _

She gripped Catra’s hand with faux confidence as they entered the gymnasium, sure that her hand was sweaty and gross. She was brimming with anxiety, and she wondered if Catra thought it was weird that she hadn’t let go of her hand yet.

_ Should she let go? _

She took a deep breath- Catra was still holding her hand. She was following her willingly into a place that Adora knew she wasn’t ecstatic to be in - In a suit that made Adora’s stomach tangle in knots and her other hand grip her dress tightly. 

Despite all the anxiety she had been feeling over her crush for the past few days, Adora felt brave. She had seen the way Catra looked at her when she got in the limo that night, and the nervous way Catra had acted - She felt that the possibility of Catra liking her back wasn’t as far fetched as she once thought. Her conversations with Seahawk and Casta bounced around in her brain.  _ Don’t fear an attempt. _

She gripped Catra’s hand a little tighter. 

“This place literally reeks of sweat,” Catra shouted over the music as they caught up to the rest of the group. 

The room was filled with dancing teens, all dressed in their very best - most paired off but a few dancing together in groups. Streamers were draped along the walls, and at the front of the gym was a ‘DJ’. Or, really just a guy running songs off his phone while bobbing his head. There were purple and pink lights flashing around as the music thumped, practically shaking the gym floor. It was loud and distracting, and probably exactly what Catra hated. 

Adora glanced over to her friend. Catra didn’t exactly look like she was in agony, but she wasn’t quite smiling either. 

“No kidding,” Mermista called back. She folded her arms in annoyance. “Can’t we ditch and go get burgers instead?”

“No way!” Glimmer rejected, frowning deeply. “We all got cleaned up and drove here in our fancy ass limo, we are at least staying for an hour.” She swiftly pulled back Seahawk who had started moving toward one of the light fixtures on the side of the gym. 

“I could dance the whole night,” Scorpia said cheerily. Perufma clung to her arm giddily, seemingly in agreeance. “Plus, look! There’s refreshments.”

Catra perked up at that, Adora noticed. The other girl’s eyes searched the room quickly before landing on the snack table, and Adora could see the way her eyes lit up instantly. 

“Yes, please,” Catra practically purred, already gravitating toward it. “Let’s go, Adora.” She tugged insistently on the taller girl’s hand. 

“Hold on!” Glimmer scolded, reaching forward to pull Catra back, and consequently Adora. She knocked her shoulder into Catra clumsily. The other girl placed a steadying hand to her arm. “Can we at least have a group dance or something before we all split off and do whatever?” Glimmer already seemed exasperated with the group, having taken on the “mom role” for the night. 

Catra groaned, barely heard over the music, but stayed in her place. “Fine. One dance and then I’m getting some snacks.”

The rest of the group agreed easily (minus Entrapta who went to “collect data” - Glimmer had decided that was a lost cause), and they all made their way toward the packed floor. Adora felt like a little pinball being bounced around by her classmates, but she couldn’t help but enjoy how the crowd made Catra migrate closer to her. 

Her stomach fluttered. They were still holding hands.

“Let the festivities begin!” Seahawk shouted before springing into a lively dance. It was a jovial, uncoordinated sort of thing that Adora doubted anyone else could do at a highschool dance without ridicule. But Seahawk was Seahawk and soon enough he had the rest of the group following suit. 

Even a few other students moved toward the group - the student body had a strange fascination coupled with fear when it came to Seahawk. The thrill of Seahawks unpredictability seemed to override the risk of catching one of his waving extremities.

The large group danced freely- even Catra loosened up after a song or two. Adora was giddy at the way Catra stayed close and maintained almost constant contact. She couldn’t help but think back to their conversation at her house last Friday. Like maybe Catra remembered how she talked about crushes and the way people acted around them. Could it be that Catra was making a point to let Adora know how she felt?

Adora made sure to be just as touchy, hoping Catra caught on to her own feelings. She took the bashful looks as a good sign.

“Okay!” Catra called over the music as a slower song started through the gym. Her face had flushed a pretty red from all the dancing. “Snack time, losers!”

Scorpia sent Catra an apologetic look. “Sorry, Wildcat. I think Perfuma and I are going to stay for this song.”

Perfuma slid up close to Scorpia with a shy smile. “It’s one of my favorites,” She apologized. 

Catra waved it off easily. 

“I think we’ll stay for this one too or whatever,” Mermista added dryly as Seahawk threw an arm over her shoulders. He beamed brightly as he raced into a slow dance position.

“Well, Adora and I are getting snacks,” Catra shrugged. “While the rest of you do your couples thing.” She sent a pointed look toward Glimmer, and Adora watched a silent conversation pass between the two. Catra not so subtly flickered her gaze to Bow.

Adora giggled softly at the way Glimmer’s face immediately flushed. She suspected the shorter girl had a crush on their friend, and she found it hilarious that Catra had the same suspicion. Bow had a light blush across his own cheeks coupled with a look of contemplation. 

Catra left with a smirk. Adora, with their hands still locked, followed obediently until she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

She looked behind her to see Bow letting out an awkward cough. 

“Got a quick minute?” He asked, looking apologetic. 

“Uh,” Adora looked back at Catra who was still staring at the snack table, but had stopped at Adora’s abrupt halt. “I’ll meet you there?” She asked Catra, frowning deeply when the other girl released her hand easily and bolted toward the snacks. 

“Sorry about that,” Bow grimaced, bringing her in closer to him. Glimmer huddled in as well. The two were bouncing happily on their heels almost in tandem, excitement brimming their features. 

“But this is important!” Glimmer squealed happily. She was practically jumping up and down. “You two looked real cozy in that limo.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

Adora scoffed. “Everyone was cozy, there was barely enough room, remember?” She sent an annoyed look toward the two before glancing toward the snack table. She saw Catra glancing at the selection. She smiled softly. 

“Puh - lease,” Glimmer waved off. “The dancing as well? You two were giggling, and flirting, and looking at each other like you wanted to-”

“Okay!” Bow interrupted much to Adora’s relief. “Let's… cool it.” He breathed out. 

“Thank you,” Adora shook her head at Glimmer’s sly look. “Now can I ask why you two felt the need to ruin my one on one time with Catra?

“We…” Bow paused, as if just realizing their blunder. “Uh, we wanted to know what the plan was?”

“The plan?” Adora said in exasperation. “What are you talking about?

“Well it just looked like things were going well,” Glimmer continued, also losing confidence. 

Adora glanced back again, noticing Catra talking to someone else she couldn’t remember from their class. They wore a dark green suit and had placed a hand on Catra’s shoulder. 

_ Who the hell- _

“And we totally went off script from the twelve step plan,” Bow interrupted Adora’s thoughts. “So, we thought we could change up the game plan-”

“-Since things are going better than expected. You should close the deal tonight. We just have to think of a way to not mess this up.”

“- I have a six step, maybe eight step plan in mind-”

“Okay!” Adora interrupted once more. “You two are making me more nervous. I, I don’t need a plan, okay? I was just going to...go with the flow,” She made a smoothing motion with her hand, receiving baffled looks from Bow and Glimmer. 

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing since the start of the year?” Bow asked. 

“Since the start of  _ highschool _ ?” 

“Well… yes,” Adora admitted, ducking her head. “But… I just don’t want to mess things up! So, I was thinking tonight I hold her hand again - “

“- confess your life long crush-”

“Three years!”

“Might as well be forever!” Glimmer groaned. “This is like… the longest slowburn.”

“We’re not trying to make you more nervous!” Bow said. “We’re just really excited.” Glimmer nodded quickly in agreement.

“Yeah, I mean, Catra’s a massive pain in my side. Like, the bane of my existence half the time. Frankly, one of the most-”

“Wrap it up,” Bow said sternly. 

“But you guys are good together,” Glimmer finished, cutting the dramatics. 

“Look, I appreciate the help guys,” Adora placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “But, I think - for once - I finally got this. I’m feeling pretty brave today.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna make a move,” She said with as much confidence as she could muster. The duo lit up, pulling her into a hug. 

“That’s my girl!” Glimmer cheered.

“You can do it,” Bow assured. 

“Now, if I may…” Adora turned to leave before deciding to add one more thing. “ _ Maybe  _ you two could stand to be a little brave today, too,” She suggested. She quickly left after that, letting out a giggle at her embarrassed friends. 

She made a beeline toward the snack table, only to find Catra gone. She stood there dumbly. Glancing around the room, she searched for her friend but found nothing. No sign of Catra’s red suit amongst the dance floor, around the snack table, maybe she went to the bathroom...

“Are you looking for your date?”

Adora nearly jumped out of her skin as Entrapta popped up behind her, her tablet in one hand, a small brownie in the other. 

“Uh, not my date…” Adora replied awkwardly. “But yes, I am looking for Catra?”

Entrapta chewed slowly, nodding her head. “Oh yeah, I saw her leave a few minutes ago.”

Adora waited. Entrapta didn’t elaborate. “Did she say where she was going, or?”

“Oh no. She left with DT, though,” Entrapta continued, looking as if she was growing bored of the conversation. 

“DT…” Adora asked. “As in Double Trouble?”

“Yes, Dylan Truman, Double Trouble, DT, Truant as called by many teachers... They go by many names,” Entrapta supplied. “It seems they prefer Double Trouble the most, though.” She glanced down at her tablet.

“Oh,” Adora paused. “Um, do you know where they went?”

Entrapta nodded easily. “Oh yeah,” She affirmed, tapping on her tablet. “They left the right side door of the gym out toward the northern hallway approximately four minutes ago.”

Adora nodded quickly. “Great,” She said, already moving toward the door. “Thanks Entrapta, you’re a gem!”

“No problem,” Entrapta replied before disappearing once more. 

Adora racked her brain for reasons why Catra and DT would have wandered off together. Afterall, she hadn’t seen them interact all that much. She vaguely remembered seeing them running around together a few years ago, but as far as she knew, they hadn’t interacted recently. At least, as far as Adora knew. Catra hadn't mentioned them. 

So, what was going on?

\-------

**A few minutes earlier…**

  
  


“Kitty, really...I’m shocked,” DT drawled, leaning up against the lockers.

Catra glanced nervously around the empty hallway, shuffling on her feet. “Yeah, well…” She mumbled. “I owed you an apology.”

“And you had to drag me off to this secluded hallway to do so?” They grinned, moving closer.

Catra backed up nervously “I thought it was a conversation better to have in private.”

“Hmm,” They hummed. “Didn’t want anyone overhearing how you broke my heart into itty bitty pieces?” Their smile was far from hurt, but Catra still winced. “It’s fine. You apologized.”

“I know, but it wasn’t a very good one,” Catra frowned, thinking back to their incredibly uncomfortable conversation a summer ago. “And, I haven’t seen you much since then… I wanted to see how you were.”

Double Trouble shrugged. “A little freshman heartbreak isn’t enough to keep me down, if that’s what you're worried about,” They giggled thinly. “I have more important things to worry about than school.”

“Like what?”

“None of your business,” They shut down quickly. They moved a little closer, peering at Catra curiously. “You know… If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that whole thing affected you a  _ bit  _ more than me.”

Catra frowned. Sure, she thought about it a lot. She felt guilty, really. She was worried about hurting the people in her life like she had hurt, Double Trouble. She had spent months trying to figure out how she could so easily hurt one of her closest friends. How she could have let panic take over any rational thought in the matter. 

_ Why’d it freak her out so bad? _ She had wondered. Retrospect and armed with her clarity from Adora’s explanation had cleared it all up recently. She had felt something for her friend, too. She had been scared. 

“I saw you, you know,” DT continued, glancing down at their pointed nails. “On the dance floor with Adora. I’ve even seen you two blushing around the hallways on occasion.”

Catra flushed. “Uh, well,” She stuttered, shifting on her feet. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

“Like we were,” They stated. Catra ducked her head, giving them the answer they seemed to already know. There was an awkward pause, and when Catra looked up she had noticed the change in DT’s demeanor. They seemed more tense, their eyes a bit colder now, and that mischievous smirk had fallen from their face. “Right. You like her, she obviously likes you…”

“That’s up for debate-”

“And you’re still clinging to her like a lovestruck fool,” They snapped. Catra stood stunned. She wasn’t sure what to say. There was no point in denying it, no, but the look DT gave was a cause for confusion. 

“I guess.”

DT scoffed slightly before a vindictive smirk slid onto their face. “Huh,” They chuckled, glancing at something behind Catra’s before returning their gaze. “What’s different?”

“What?”

“Why is she different?” DT expounded, stepping closer to Catra. “Why’d you run from me but stay for her?” 

Catra could see the hurt shining through their carefully constructed mask. Something still stuck from their friendship freshman year. Double Trouble gripped her arm tightly, pulling her closer.

“You think you’re different now?” They said softly, pulling Catra closer again. “You’re not the same self destructive coward as before?” Closer. They spoke directly into Catra’s ear, and the latter felt her heart drop. “You think you won’t break her heart like you did mine?”

“I…” Catra mumbled. Her stomach dropped almost painfully. Her hands began to shake, and she gripped DT’s arms for balance. She could feel the tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. “I’m learning…”

DT pulled away suddenly, tilting their head and that previous vindictive look took place once more. “You,  _ Kitty _ ,” They grinned, a laugh bubbling at their throat. “Are your own worst enemy.” They looked up suddenly, staring down something over Catra’s shoulder, and, in a sickening 180, their voice took on a criminally sweet tone. “ _ Hey _ , Adora. Long time no see.”

Catra whipped around to see Adora standing a few yards away from them, glancing between the two in confusion.

“Hey,” She let out slowly, taking a tentative step forward. “Am I - Am I interrupting something?”

“Oh no!” DT let out easily, slapping Catra on the shoulder in faux playfulness. “I think we’re done here, actually. Right, Kitty?”

Catra didn’t answer, still staring at Adora with DT’s words bouncing in her head. She could feel a familiar sense of panic rising to her chest. 

DT yanked hard on her arm one more time, placing a chaste kiss to her cheek. “Always a pleasure.”

They spun on their heel, gone before Catra could think of a response. Adora was still standing, albeit a bit closer, staring at Catra searchingly. 

They were wrong. Catra knew that. She hadn’t ran. Not when Adora started taking up a scary amount of her thoughts, not when Glimmer insinuated she had a crush, and not when she had admitted to Scorpia what she was feeling after sorting it out herself. They were wrong. She knew that. And yet, her face burned in shame. Her legs felt weak, and her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Adora was looking at her, confused.

“What was that all about?” She asked.

“Nothing,” Catra replied shortly. Probably too harshly by the way Adora’s face fell. 

“I didn’t know you and DT-”

“We’re just friends,” Catra said out of nowhere. Her thoughts were jumbling, and she wasn’t ready to talk to anyone just yet. She needed a moment. A moment alone to remember… “Or were friends, I guess.”

“Oh….Oh!” Adora’s eyes lit up in recognition. “They must be the one...uh, they one from your freshman year that-”

Catra’s head whipped up in horror. “What?” She snapped. How did she -  _ Scorpia _ . She took a small step back. Scorpia had told Adora about one of the meanest things she had ever done? To someone who  _ liked  _ her? There was too much going on, Catra gritted her teeth.  _ One thing at a time.  _

“I, I don’t…” A look of realization dawned on Adora’s face. “Scorpia didn’t mean to. She was just… She just…” Adora’s words failed her. 

Catra didn’t have time to worry about it. Her chest was getting tighter, and it suddenly felt like there wasn’t enough air in the hallway. “I need,” She breathed out softly. A sharp pain hit her chest near her armpit. She clutched it for a moment. “I need a minute.”

“Do you want me to - “

“No,” She snapped for the second time. She took one look at the hurt expression painting Adora’s face before she spun on her heels. God, she was already hurting her. She needed to get out. She needed…

She bolted down the hallway, hearing Adora chase after her. But Adora wore heels and her stupid pretty dress, and Catra had on a nice pair of dress shoes. She easily found the nearest exit, shoving the doors open, she ran. And she ran. 

And she kept running. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Back again, and sorry for the delay. Life got crazy. I appreciate all the support I've received over the past while on this fic - It makes writing that much more fun:).
> 
> Also...sorry for the drama. I couldn't help it. Let me know what you thought! I'm thinking of wrapping this fic up at around 10 chapters, so the angst won't last ;). I'm also going to be going through previous chapters to do some light editing. I noticed some typos I wanted to fix after reading back. I may slightly change some dialogue and writing. Nothing crucial to the story, so don't worry.
> 
> Again, seriously, thank you for the kudos and comments. I love hearing your guys' opinions and favorite parts. The next updates will not be as long of a wait (Hopefully).
> 
> Love ya'll!


	9. Catra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into other character's minds. Backstory for Catra.
> 
> (Chapters Slightly Edited).

Scorpia was thirteen years old when she met Catra for the first time. Middle school was a time of change. Kids were learning what was cool and what was not, and everyone seemed to want to prove how “mature” they had become in the short summer separating them from childhood and teenagedom. 

Scorpia was tall, and strange, and decidedly _not_ cool according to her middle school class. Which was fine by her. Her mothers always told her “Not to change for nothing”, even if others didn’t quite get it. Because _You_ was always the best thing you could be. 

Nobody in her grade seemed to share that sentiment. But Scorpia tried her best anyway.

In the middle of her eighth grade year, a short girl with a large frown was introduced to her Earth Science class. _Catra Ramirez_. Catra was smaller than most of the grade, but had been deemed “cool” at her arrival. Her elusive attitude and band t-shirts had easily solidified her spot in the social hierarchy, despite Catra’s refusal to actually engage in said social scene. But that wasn’t what caught Scorpia’s attention one bit. 

See, Catra was pretty. Catra had mismatched eyes that seemed like they held secrets, especially when she was zoned out listening to her music with those big, bulky headphones she seemed to never part with. Catra had freckles that looked like galaxies and a timid smile that begged to be coaxed into a bigger one. Scorpia wanted to be the one to do that.

But Scorpia had also had enough rejection that year. And someone as cool as Catra wouldn’t want to be friends with the gawky, awkward girl who startled people when she spoke. 

So, she stuck to Entrapta’s side because Entrapta was a “weirdo” too and didn’t mind if Scorpia rambled or spoke too loudly or cut off all her hair because she liked it better short. Entrapta didn’t mind if Scorpia was herself. And taking her mothers’ advice, Scorpia tried her best to just be herself. She wouldn’t change just to make friends. 

Even if Entrapta was all she’d ever have. 

People would take one look at Scorpia and Catra in highschool and assume the overzealous, loud, bubbly girl had swept up the begrudging introvert and forced her friendship upon her. 

That was only halfway true. 

A month into Catra’s new school, they had been sitting in a shared science class. One of the boys in front of her, Bradley, had noticed Scorpia’s new Naruto shirt she’d gotten over the weekend. 

“Jesus,” He snickered. “Look at that shirt.” His friends beside him had laughed, and Scorpia had tried to shrink into her seat. Which was hard to do considering her growth spurt the previous year. 

“She’s already a freakin’ giant,” He continued. “No dude already wants to date her, and the shirt is just making it worse-“

“Hey, shit for brains.”

Scorpia and the boys looked ahead of them to notice Catra glaring back at them. The girl had turned in her seat to face them, pulling one of her headphones off her ear in annoyance. 

“Y-yeah?” He asked, blushing slightly at Catra’s intense gaze directed at him. _Teenage boys._

“Mind shutting the hell up?” She snapped, shaking her head. “Why don’t you find something better to do than put down the nicest girl in our grade, Chad.”

“It’s Brad-“

“I don’t care,” She glanced around him and at his friends with an unimpressed gaze. “Back the hell off. Just because you’re a miserable cretin, doesn’t mean you have to take it out on someone who actually likes themselves. So, leave Sarah alone-“

“It’s Scorpia.”

Catra looked directly at the other girl for the first time. And _okay,_ maybe she couldn’t fault Brad for blushing. Scorpia flushed at the eye contact, noticing just how pretty the other girl really was. _Those cute little freckles!_ And then Catra stumped her. She smiled. The real, bright one Scopria had only dreamed about pulling from the other girl.

She had felt her chest tighten at the sight.

“Right, sorry...I like the shirt by the way. It’s cool,” Catra mumbled before turning back in her seat. “Leave her alone. The school could use more people who are actually themselves.”

That had ended the conversation. Scorpia was stunned, having not had anything in regards to her being described as “cool” in years. Catra had hunched back over her assignment and placed her headphones back over her ears. Scorpia watched the boys flounder for a moment before she cleared her throat. 

“I don’t appreciate you speaking about me like that,” She started as sternly as she could. “Nobody likes a bully. Just because you’re insecure that most of the girls are taller than you in this grade doesn’t mean you get to take it out on me.” Scorpia looked past them to see Catra giving a thumbs up over her head, apparently not having completely tuned out of the situation. 

Bradley frowned. “Whatever,” He muttered before turning back in his seat. 

Sometimes Scorpia wondered if Catra even remembered that moment all that well. Or if Catra herself just believed Scorpia found her at lunch that day and swept her into a long lasting friendship. 

It didn’t matter that much, Scorpia supposed. She found herself standing up to people more, and it turned out the people at Brightmoon High were a lot more open and actually condemned bullying. Catra would always talked about how she fell short in her friendships, when she’d get overwhelmed by Scorpia’s energy or crabby through Entrapta’s rants. People, even Catra herself at times, thought Catra was cold. 

But Scorpia knew her. Catra was kind and Catra cared. Scorpia could see it when Catra held her hand after Scorpia’s pet goldfish died and even sang it a little parting song as they flushed it down the toilet. 

She could see it in the way Catra listened to Entrapta ramble about things she didn’t understand, attempting to offer help with robots that could definitely harm her. The way she supported Entrapta’s mechanical endeavors wholeheartedly. Even encouraging her to go beyond high school level. 

She could see it in the way Catra smiled softly at Adora, comforted Glimmer in the limo, and refrained from teasing Mermista _too_ much about her and Seahawks obvious relationship. 

Catra cared about people whether she herself understood that well enough or not. 

And that was why Scorpia was going to kick Double Trouble’s ass the moment she found them. 

———

Glimmer had one of the best times of her life. She was glad Adora had finally been brave enough to pursue her crush because while they would forever and always be the best of friends, she admittedly craved her alone time with Bow. 

Sure they were surrounded by half the school, but Bow was looking at her and smiling at her, and Bow was dancing with _her_. She often found herself doubting her crush. They had been friends for too long, and she and Bow were in such perfect sync that the idea of ruining it was frightening. 

She was a hypocrite she knew. 

But she took Adora’s advice about being brave, and had placed her hand firmly in Bows - delighted with the way her gripped tighter and smiled that heart melting smile at her. 

“Have you guys seen Catra and Adora?” Scorpia had shouted over the music after sometime. 

She had been dancing for nearly an hour when Scorpia had realized Catra and Adora had been missing for quite some time. The three had exited the gym with shit eating grins, giggling at the implications, but the smiles were quickly dropped at the sight of a tearful Adora. 

Adora sat at the school steps with her phone clutched in her hands and tears in her eyes.

Glimmer’s first instinct was to track Catra down and punch her in her stupid face. Her second instinct, after an explanation via Scorpia and Adora, was to find whoever that Double Trouble character was and kick their ass into oblivion. 

Her final actions landed on hugging Adora tightly and whispering as many comforting things as she could think of in her ear. She ached at the sight of her best friend looking so lost. Then, when Scorpia had shot off to find Catra, Bow and Glimmer led Adora back to the limo, getting her home, and suggested a Best Friend Squad Sleepover. 

Adora didn’t talk much, glued to her phone as she texted and called away. Bow and Glimmer felt helpless as they shot each other worried looks and tried to distract Adora. 

“It sounded like whatever DT said to her had set off some kind of panic attack,” Bow kept a comforting arm around Adora, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. “She probably felt like she needed to be alone.”

“If she’s- if she’s having a panic attack, she shouldn’t be alone,” Adora stuttered out, throwing her head onto Bow’s shoulder. “Scorpia said she didn’t go home, and, and she isn’t answering anybody's messages!”

“Maybe her phone died?” Glimmer offered unsuredly, sitting on the other side of Adora. 

“I’m sorry for ruining your guys’ night,” Adora mumbled after a few moments of silence. 

Glimmer and Bow shared a look. Sure, their night had been going well. Glimmer had been blushing and giggling like a fool. But Adora was an even bigger fool for thinking she’d have to apologize for this. 

They nodded in tandem. 

“You will never,”

“And I mean never,”

“Have to apologize to us for needing a friend,” Glimmer asserted. 

“Best Friend Squad for life,” Bow added. “I’d drop anything for you guys. Anytime.”

And so the three of them sat there, huddled up together at the end of Adora’s bed until they fell asleep - Glimmer plotting the demise of Double Trouble all the while. 

——

Lonnie strolled into her favorite café on a Sunday afternoon, fighting the cold by pulling her jacket as tightly as she could around her, only to see the last person she thought she’d see. 

There was Catra Ramirez sitting at a table, pouting like a child as her mother ranted about God knows what. If Lonnie remembered Ms. Ramirez worth a damn, she’d guess it was something about one of the cases she took. Something she knew Catra had little interest in. 

Sure they had parted on somewhat bitter terms, but that was years ago. Catra had transferred from Horde Middle to Brightmoon Middle, and Lonnie only saw her in passing out and about. Lonnie felt a strange sense of nostalgia. She scoffed at Catra’s faraway look. _Some_ things never changed. She had been set on getting a quick drink before meeting Kyle and Rogelio but something made her linger, glancing at Catra every now and again. 

A little catch up couldn’t hurt.

When Ms. Ramirez rose from her seat, exiting the café with a phone to her ear. Lonnie found herself approaching her estranged friend. 

“Still as petulant as ever,” She said before she could stop herself. 

Catra looked up in surprise. It was then Lonnie noticed the dark circles around her eyes and sullen expression. Catra had her arms crossed and almost seemed to be willing her sweatshirt to swallow her up so she could disappear. 

“Lonnie?” Catra tilted her head. 

“Long time no see, Cap,” Lonnie grinned cautiously. “How’ve you been?”

“Cap…” Catra mumbled, shaking her head. “Haven’t heard that one in years.”

“Yeah, well… I hear you haven’t played soccer in years either. Brightmoon really changes a girl, I suppose...” Lonnie shrugged before hesitantly pulling out a chair beside the girl. “Seriously… how’ve you been?”

“Jesus,” Catra cackled, sounding thin and forced. “I look that bad, huh?”

“You look like shit, actually,” Lonnie deadpanned, falling into a sense of familiarity. 

Catra’s laugh sounded a bit more genuine. “Yeah… I mean, my mom forced me out for lunch. And you know how those go.”

“Hmm,” Lonnie hummed in disbelief. “And?”

“And she had a work call and left per usual,” Catra rapped her nail gently against her coffee cup. Lonnie fixed her with a pointed look. Catra shifted. “It’s nothing, just… _friend_ issues.”

Lonnie raised a brow in curiosity then. “That Scorpia girl? She still got that massive crush on you?”

“God no,” Catra brushed off, facing Lonnie a bit better now. “How did you even…

_"_ Word gets around. I used to hang with Entrapta awhile back,” Lonnie brushed off. “You’d know how intertwined Brightmoon and Horde’s social lives were if you, ya know, participated in such things.” Lonnie wouldn’t admit that she listened a little closer to the gossip when it came from Brightmoon, hoping to hear how a certain someone was doing. 

  
  


Catra shrugged. “No, she actually has a girlfriend now. Do you know Perfuma?”

“Heard of her,” Lonnie nodded. “Good for her.” She crossed her arms, waiting for Catra to continue. 

“Yeah,” Catra trailed off before receiving another pointed look. Getting Catra to talk about her feelings was always an uphill battle, and it didn't seem like that had changed. Although Lonnie guessed she shouldn’t expect to be privy to such information after cutting off their friendship way back then. She could feel the old shame building up but stomped it down when Catra opened her mouth again. “No, just… remembering how shitty of a person I can be.” 

Lonnie scoffed at that. “Oh shut it,” She ignored Catra’s shocked look. “You were always on about that crap. Acting like you were some kind of villain. Truth of the matter always was that you, Catra, have always...been so _mushy_.”

“What?” Catra spluttered. 

“You forget we were friends?” Lonnie asked sassily. “You care, and you get up in your feels, no one listens to _that_ much emo music and doesn’t have a soft side.”

Catra looked around nervously before taking a deep breath. She leaned in closely, lowering her voice. “Okay. So there’s this girl…”

Lonnie listened carefully as Catra detailed the last few months of her life. There was apparent shame and embarrassment laced in her telling and occasionally Lonnie wondered how reliable of a narrated Catra was proving to be. 

  
  


Lonnie took a deep breath. Maybe she was projecting. She remembered so clearly in sixth grade two blushing little girls. A feeling that she felt _had_ to be reciprocated, but coupled with a feeling of dread that sat in her gut. Fear so strong she stamped down everything she could. She jumped for the first boy she could find, and she was young, yes. But she wasn’t dumb, and she could see how hurt Catra was. And what did she do? She told Catra she was a bad friend and left. 

“And so once again, I am ruining a friendship. Hurting those around me. God wonders how Scorpia and ‘Trapta stayed around me this long,” Catra murmured into her coffee cup, taking a long drink from it. 

Lonnie eyed her carefully before letting out a low whistle. “You’re an idiot.” 

“You’re… you’re still an _asshole_ ,” Catra grumbled, flushing slightly. 

“Listen,” Lonnie leaned in, making sure Catra heard her. “First off, you did not single handedly ruin our friendship. Truth is, we were two stupid kids who couldn’t handle our feelings well. I ran like a pussy, and you lashed out.”

“Wait…”

“Yes, dummy,” Lonnie laughed. “I liked you back and pulled what you seem to think is _your_ patented move.” 

“Oh,” Catra blushed, looking down. 

“We were like twelve. Stop beating yourself up for that,” Lonnie went on. “Second, we are now just two, slightly older, stupid kids who will still make mistakes and continue doing so. Yeah, you did DT super dirty with that one. But you apologized. You’re putting in the work to do better, right?”

Catra nodded hesitantly. 

“And…” Lonnie could feel the weight of her own guilt lifting off her shoulders as she spoke. Who knew scolding your childhood crush could be so therapeutic? She glanced sneakily out the window of the café, watching Catra’s mother ramble into her phone. “Hey,” She continued, softer now.

“Yeah?”

“I… I see your dad around a lot in Horde territory. With some kid who looks like he hisses at toddlers on the playground and eats wood chips for fun,” Catra looked caught between laughing and crying. “Which leads me to believe your parents finally split like they should’ve a decade ago. No offense.”

“I-,” Catra huffed before slouching back down into her seat. “Yeah.”

“You can tell me if I’m way off base here,” Lonnie continued cautiously, hoping she wasn’t overstepping her boundaries. “And I know I haven’t really talked to you in a long time...but if you're worried you're anything like them? You’re not. Just...trust me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Catra denied, glancing out the window at her mother. “That thought hasn’t even crossed my mind.”

“I was around those two, and they were _messy_ ,” Lonnie thought back to the tense dinners she’d have over at her friend’s house. The strong sense of _removal_ in the home. “But they managed to produce a pretty badass kid. But if you continue running your ass off at every fallback, well, maybe you’ll end up like that in the end afterall.”

They both stared out the window now. Ms. Ramirez was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, seemingly in her own world as she talked, and talked, and talked. Lonnie couldn’t remember a time that woman had said more than three sentences to Catra at their dinners. 

“You don’t have to be like them if you don’t want to be,” Lonnie asserted once more. “You never have been, but you’re letting your fear turn you into someone you’re not. You care about Scopria and Entrapta, you haven’t ditched them yet, right? And I can tell you care about those other preps whether you've accepted that or not. _And_ I can tell you care about Adora. A lot.”

Catra didn’t answer, instead pretending to find her coffee cup a lot more interesting than what Lonnie had to say.

“Woman up,” Lonnie finished. “Don’t keep making the same mistakes. Prove that bitchass wrong.”

  
  


Catra didn’t reply for a moment. The pair sat silently until the bell from the door caught their attention. Catra’s mother was striding back in, and Lonnie took that as a sign to head out. She was already incredibly late to meet her friends. 

“Lonnie?” Catra finally spoke as the girl stood. “Thank you.”

Lonnie nodded slowly. “We could do this again sometime…” She offered shyly. “Talk about girls and shit.”

Catra smirked, looking a lot better than when Lonnie and first arrived. Which was all Lonnie had hoped for. “Don’t be a stranger, Lon.”

Lonnie took her exit, passing by Ms. Ramirez as she reached her daughter. She heard a short “Wasn't that your best friend, Laurie?”, before shaking her head.

Maybe _some_ things didn’t change. But Catra sure as hell did. 

——

Adora sat in her bed on a Sunday evening wearing pajamas she should’ve changed out of a day ago. She had finally convinced Bow and Glimmer to leave her alone. Allowing her to sit and wallow while listening to the saddest playlists she could find. 

Her thumb hovered over Catra’s contact, the cute little cat emoji mocking her. But she had decided after the tenth unanswered text that she would back off. She would see Catra tomorrow hopefully, if the girl didn’t end up skipping like Scorpia suggested she might. Catra had completely ghosted every single one of their friends, and Adora was starting to worry even more after a phone call with a distressed Scorpia the night before. 

Catra’s mother had refused her entrance, stating her daughter had said she was to be left alone. Scorpia had explained, ending with a frustrated “the one time that hag is home!”. Adora had never heard Scorpia angry before - Adora had never heard Scorpia _insult_ someone before. 

It did nothing to quell her worries. 

Scorpia had ended the call with a promise to update the moment she heard from Catra.

Adora mulled over, for the hundredth time, what DT could’ve said to freak Catra out so bad. She had felt like she had known Catra so well, even after a few months of knowing each other. But in that moment, she had never felt so far away. Adora didn’t know about Catra’s apparent “hag” of a mother. Adora had assumed Catra had some form of social anxiety, but hadn’t known Catra had panic attacks. Hell, Adora didn’t even know Double Trouble still went to their school, and she certainly didn’t know how much weight Catra held from the situation.

The whole thing sounded awful. If Adora had been in DT’s shoes, she too would’ve been hurt beyond belief. She was already hurt, and Catra had only been AWOL for a few days. Adora hadn’t even gotten to confess her feelings.

Catra’s face before running off replayed in her mind like a tape on constant rewind. The pale of her face, the way her hands shook, the look in her eyes almost akin to a frightened animal. Cornered, afraid, and ready to bolt. And then she did. 

A buzz interrupted her inner thoughts. Her phone nearly slipped through her fingers at the notification. 

_Catra!_

Catra’s contact shone brightly on Adora’s lock screen, and was Adora quick to open the message. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She read it once, twice to be sure, and bolted out of her room. Sprinting down the stairs to the front door, not even bothering to make herself look acceptable, Adora threw open her front door. 

Catra stood on her porch, hands behind her back and her gaze glued to her shoes. 

Adora felt her heart leap.

“Catra,” Adora breathed out. 

Catra looked up timidly. Her eyes were wide, and clear apprehension was carved into her features. Her eyes darted around nervously before she looked up and gave a half hearted smile. 

“Hey, Adora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! Sorry for the last chapter, I hope this one gives you faith for the next ;).
> 
> This one was one of my favorites to write. Sometimes, I worried I was out of character, or like perhaps I didn't give enough background on Catra in the beginning so the conversations and topics didn't fit or felt like they came out of the blue. But alas, I tried my best. 
> 
> Thank you, thank you for the support. I didn't expect my work to do this well. It means the world to hear from you guys! This fic is due to wrap up soon, so thank you for taking this journey with me. This had been so fun to write so far and you guys make it all the better. I pinky promise that there will not be another months long hiatus before this thing is wrapped. There was just a lot going on in my life at the time. Thanks for sticking through, seriously. 
> 
> P.S. How'd you guys feel about that Lonnie cameo? And... were the characters a little too mean about DT? Haha.


	10. Resolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolution.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 2021 guys! Thank you for following the story this far, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Adora looked far too pretty for someone who had been interrupted out of the blue on a Sunday evening. 

Her hair was falling out of it’s ponytail, and she wore unicorn pajama bottoms that swamped at her feet. And she looked beautiful. She always did to Catra- but Adora was also looking at Catra expectantly. Her brow would furrow then unfurrow, then furrow again. Like she couldn’t decide if she was upset or not. 

Catra had something to say. She had had a lot of  _ things _ to say, but rather than say any of those things, she stood dumbly on Adora’s porch. Staring, waiting for Adora to do something as if  _ she  _ wasn’t the one who showed up unannounced. 

“You look angry,” Catra found herself saying. 

  
  


Furrowed. “I’m not  _ angry,”  _ Adora replied after a heavy beat. 

Somewhere in the back of Catra’s mind she could hear a ticking. Tick, tock. Tick, Tock. A steady pendulum, or really a clock ticking, and ticking and-

“I would be…” Catra let out dejectedly. “If I were you.” Her stomach churned heavily. 

Unfurrowed. “I’m...I’m just confused.”

Catra’s fists tightened. Tightened around the cookie she had forgotten she had been holding behind her back. _Right_. Her things she had to say. She pulled the packaged sweet out from behind her back and shoved it hurriedly into Adora’s hands. 

The other girl took it tentatively, glancing down at it momentarily before looking once again at Catra. “What is this?” She asked. 

Catra pointed at it stupidly. “It’s a cookie.”

Furrowed. “Thank you.”

Catra nodded slowly. She took a small step forward. “It’s chocolate chip, which is your favorite,” She rocked back and forth on her heels. “It’s an apology cookie.”

Adora took a deep breath, staring down at the cookie she held delicately, with just the tips of her fingers. Then, she smiled slightly. “Chocolate chip is my favorite…” She said. 

Catra watched with bated breath as Adora reached behind her for the door, letting out a confused hum as Adora shut it gently before walking past Catra. Adora took a seat at the steps of the porch, unwrapping the cookie before breaking it in half and offering a piece to Catra. 

Catra who was still standing by the door, staring at her dumbly. 

“Oh, uh, no thanks. I don’t actually like chocolate chip cookies,” She replied. She inched closer, settling next to Adora gingerly. 

Adora gasped loudly. “Blasphemy! Nothing, and I mean  _ nothing _ , beats a fresh, warm, ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie. Especially from Razz’s...my absolute favorite bakery...” She trailed off thoughtfully. She looked down at the cookie for a curiously before looking up at Catra with a strange sort of smile.

Catra flushed slightly, looking down at her own hands. “Oh really?” 

“Yeah... I think I mentioned it once in passing a few weeks ago. When you brought me that cookie in class because you accidentally bought two chocolate chip cookies…which you apparently don’t like.”

Catra glanced toward Adora who was then raising a teasing brow at her which only caused Catra to flush a little deeper. 

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, well I, like, pay attention every once in a while.” Catra shrugged. 

“Yeah,” Adora mumbled before taking a bite. 

Catra watched with a small smile as Adora’s grin widened while letting out a little content hum. 

After a moment, Adora turned to look at her searchingly, quickly reminding Catra of the reason she was there in the first place. 

  
  


“Right, well, now that I’ve  _ sweetened _ you up,” Catra reveled in the small snort Adora let out. “I did come here to apologize...which I will be doing...now...”

Adora finished chewing, placing down the cookie to give her full attention to her friend. “If you’re comfortable with that.”

Catra took a deep breath, picking at the stone of Adora’s steps for a moment.  _ Where to start?  _ “I’m sure you could surmise that DT and I had a… tense conversation,” She started, waiting to make sure Adora was listening. The other girl nodded assuringly. “Specifically about the poor way I treated them, which you heard from Scorpia.” 

“Bits and pieces.”

“Moral of the story was that I was a coward. I got overwhelmed and scared, and instead of talking about it or trying to figure things out, I ran. I ghosted, and I really hurt someone important to me. And… it, well I thought I’d grown, ya know?” Catra scratched the back of her head nervously, willing her voice not to waver. “But then DT showed up, and I wanted to apologize, show them I was different now. I think I felt like I had something to prove. Or... that if I apologized one more time, I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty all the time.”

Adora let out a little hum, but remained silent. Like she knew Catra wasn’t done yet. 

“And they seemed fine. Until they weren’t. And I could just see it, the painfully evident consequences of my acriosn. I had genuinely hurt someone, someone who was still hurt to that day, and then…  _ God _ , it was like they could see right through me and pinpointed the exact insecurity I held in my... _ relationship  _ with you,” Catra let out the last part so quietly she would’ve thought Adora hadn’t heard it. 

But Adora let out this tiny surprised gasp that Catra had barely caught. She took a brave look toward her friend, and Adora reached out a timid hand. 

“It’s okay, Ca-“

“But it’s not!” Catra snapped, pulling her hand away before Adora could make contact. “Because they were right. I bolted, and then I left all my friends, Scorpia,  _ you _ , in the dark because it just felt easier to avoid it-“

“You’re here now,” Adora interrupted firmly. She reached out her hand again before thinking better and simply placed it to the concrete. She leaned toward Catra with determination burning in her eyes. “You didn’t leave for a year, or two, or end the friendship. You’re here now, and sure, this weekend sucked. Like, a lot. But… I was just worried about you. I knew something was going on and - Well, I wish I had gotten a text. But I get it. You got scared, people get scared! I’m scared shitless around you half the time! But you’re here now. You’re  _ trying _ , Catra. And, at least to me,  _ that’s  _ what matters.” 

Catra stared at Adora for a moment. She wanted to process all that had been said, but “ _ I’m scared shitless around you _ ” was sticking firmly in her brain. 

_ That had to mean… _

“Sorry,” Adora let out, blushing a bit as she pulled back. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” 

Catra just shook her head softly. She probably looked like a fool at the moment, staring open mouthed at a pretty girl on her porch. 

“It’s fine,” Catra didn’t miss the way her own voice cracked embarrassingly. She quickly cleared her throat. “So…”

Adora suddenly found her cookie interesting again, picking at one of the chocolate chips. “So?”

Catra fumbled. She turned the conversation over in her mind for a minute. They had both basically alluded to that fact that they had mutual feelings for each other,  _ right _ ? Catra wasn’t crazy, or misreading. She tapped her foot against the steps, searching for the right thing to say. Or anything to say.  _ What should I do next?  _

It was the first time feelings didn’t make her want to puke or run down the steps and never look back, so she took that as a good sign. 

Adora was glancing at her from the corner of her eye, and Catra guessed she was having a similar train of thought based on the pretty flush on her cheeks and the matching bounce in her leg. 

Suddenly, Adora turned toward her. And slowly, as if approaching a frightened deer, stretched her hand toward Catra’s once again. Catra watched it, holding her breath, as she flexed her own finger subtly. Waiting patiently. 

Holding her breath until did her best to relax, and instead of a calming exhale, she found words tumbling from her mouth. 

“You make me nervous.”

Adora froze. “I… You make me nervous too,” She replied softly. 

Catra slowly reached forward, touching the tips of her fingers to Adora’s. 

“I think I might be a bad person.”

Adora’s fingers shifted, sliding over Catra’s own. “You’re not,” She stated quietly. 

Catra stared down at their hands. “I don’t want to hurt you…” She whispered. 

Adora’s fingers curled around her own before sliding their palms together and entangling their fingers. 

“Then don’t,” Adora said simply, not looking away from their joint hands. “And I won’t hurt you.”

“Big promises,” Catra mumbled, squeezing Adora’s hand in trepid motion. 

Catra watched carefully as Adora’s face inched closer. She felt an intense swooping motion in her stomach, and she was sure Adora, so close, could probably feel the heat radiating off her cheeks. 

“I’m feeling optimistic…” Adora mumbled. 

Catra, with increasing anticipation, held her breath as Adora’s eyes dropped purposely to her lips.

  
  


“I’ve never done this before.”

“Me neither,” Adora gripped Catra’s hand a bit more firmly. “But I’m feeling brave,” Adora’s other hand raised cautiously before placing itself onto Catra’s face, cradling her cheek softly. 

“Yeah?” Catra breathed out, allowing her own eyes to fall slowly. 

“Tell me if this isn’t okay?” Adora asked sweetly. Her movements halted, waiting patiently for Catra’s assent. 

Catra could feel her heart thumping erratically, so loudly she was sure Adora could hear. She could feel her blush all the way to the tips of her ears, and although she could feel the nerves sweeping across her entire body, she raised her hand to firmly grip at the hand against her face. 

For what felt like the first time in her life, she knew what she wanted. 

She shut her eyes and willed her breath to even out as much as possible. She leaned in as gently as she could, placing her lips against Adora’s own warm ones. She rested them there softly- a little awkwardly -until Adora’s own lips moved tamely, taking Catra’s bottom lip between her own. Catra gripped Adora’s hands tighter before kissing back as confidently as she could. 

Adora let out a little sigh, and Catra found herself smiling. She smiled so hard that she had to pull away and was met with Adora smiling just as hard. Adora’s face was completely red, and Catra was sure the two of them must’ve looked ridiculous. The pair of them smiling goofily at each other with flushed faces, and nervous giggles. 

“That was…” Adora sighed out again. 

“Yeah,” Catra whispered, pulling Adora closer to place a timid kiss to her cheek. 

It felt like all she wanted was to just have Adora close. As close as possible, wearing that beautiful smile. 

“We can take this as slowly as you want,” Adora assured, removing her hand from Catra’s face. She still maintained contact, dragging Catra hand down with her, so she could comfortable hold both of Catra’s in her own. 

“Step by step,” Catra took in the content look on Adora’s face. The peace residing quelling her fears significantly. She moved as close as she could, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh. She pulled Adora’s hand into her lap 

“And we’ll figure it out together,” Adora finished, looking Catra straight in the eyes. 

Catra smiled with a sense of confidence she never thought she’d have.

“Together.” 

——

“Finally!”

Catra wouldn’t have been surprised if the entirety of Brightmoon High had heard Glimmer’s  _ enthusiastic  _ response to Adora letting the lunch table know about the recent development in their relationship. 

Perfuma had the audacity to literally _ applaud _ , and Scorpia and Bow both looked to seconds away from bursting into cheers. 

_ Weirdos.  _

“A lot sooner than my data had predicted, actually,” Entrapta murmured, but still sent a congratulatory smile toward Catra. 

“I thought I was gonna go gray before you guys figured it out!” Glimmer pressed on. 

Catra frowned. “ _ Interesting  _ you should say as much, considering you and-“ Adora squeezed her hand warningly, nudging her shoulder gently.

“C’mon,” Adora leaned in to whisper. She didn’t have to move much considering how close they had pressed together on the bench, but Catra flushed anyway. She tried to ignore the obvious snort Mermista let out at her reaction. “Let those two figure their own thing out.”

“I am so happy for you guys!” Scorpia let out, wiping away a tear that Catra was pretty sure wasn’t actually there. “Little Wildcat, all grown up.”

Catra flushed even deeper. “I - Cut the dramatics, Scorps! I already told you this last night.”

“I can’t help it! I’m witnessing it in person,” Scorpia sighed, sending Catra a large smile. “I’m just so proud of you.” Scorpia’s eyes were brimming with tears, and Catra shrunk under the praise. Scorpia looked about two seconds away from launching herself across the table to swoop Catra into a hug. 

“You’re acting like I cured cancer or something!” 

“Well, you certainly cured Adora’s never ending pining,” Glimmer jested. 

Catra let out a chuckle at Adora’s affronted look. “A month or two is hardly never ending ,” Catra defended. 

“Oh, girl,” Mermista drawled out, smirking deviously. “It’s been a whole lot longer than that.”

“Oh?”

“Try three years,” Bow practically giggled, earning a bread roll to the face from a now  _ deeply  _ blushing Adora. 

“Three years?” Catra stuttered out in shock. She certainly hadn’t been aware of  _ that. _

“All of high school,” Glimmer sighed out. 

“The whole school was practically set alight by the flame she held for you-“

“Okay!” Adora interrupted Seahawk before he could go any further. “That’s a lot. It was just a crush!”

“You didn’t even know me,” Catra said, taking in Adora’s embarrassment. Catra was shocked she had never noticed 

“ _ You  _ didn’t know  _ me _ ,” Adora corrected quietly, picking at her food. 

“Catra isn’t observant!” Scorpia chimed in. 

“Don’t we know it,” Mermista teased. 

“You have all made that  _ painstakingly  _ clear to me, yes,” Catra pouted, earning a giggle from Adora. _Figures one of the prettiest girls in school would be crushing on her for years, and her oblivious ass wouldn’t notice._

“It’s cute,” Adora complimented, as if trying to make Catra flush even deeper. 

“It’s painful,” Glimmer deadpanned. 

“Either way,” Perfuma interjected, sending a glare toward Glimmer. “We are happy for you two!”

The rest of lunch passed with relentless teasing that Catra, admittedly, couldn’t be mad at. Because Adora was holding her hand. Adora was looking at Catra like she wanted nothing more than to just  _ be  _ with her. 

She wondered if things would’ve gone differently if she had met Adora earlier. If she had noticed the other girl’s crush, if she would’ve returned the feelings. If she would’ve ran for the hills. 

But she supposed it didn’t matter. 

Because at that moment, Catra didn’t want to run.

She wanted to stay. 

——-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you for following along and all those who left such nice comments and kudos. 
> 
> This was my first experience ever writing a fic and finishing it, so if I write in the future, I hope to see some improvement. This fic was great practice! Thank you for coming along on my journey of trying something new!:)))
> 
> Again, I really appreciate all the support. I hope in the future I can write something else you guys would enjoy (I have a few other ideas I have been sitting on).
> 
> Also, I was thinking of writing an epilogue for this, but I wasn’t sure if it’d be interesting. But if it feels right, I will add it in later. 
> 
> Much love, and happy new year (a bit late)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is lightly based off of my own “dumbassery”, considering I was often told I had an air of obliviousness in social interaction and so forth.
> 
> If you got this far, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think, if there’s something you’d like to see, etc . Much love
> 
> curiouscat: msmei12 if you wanna talk:))


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